Mick Hartley

The British Psychological Society (BPS) has decided that it's just fine to call women "sluts":

On January 6, Australian Psychotherapist Tania Marshall tweeted out a screenshot of a section from a BPS professional guideline pamphlet. The snippet was encouraging BPS members to "use the preferred language of gender, sexuality, and relationship diverse people" in a professional setting. Which includes "slut".

And there it is, in part 3. Gender, sexuality and relationship diverse identities and practices:

Clients may use many different terms to refer to their identities and practices and psychologists are advised to use those that are used by clients themselves or to ask which terms are preferred. Some people do not use GSRD or LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) labels, but may be comfortable with, for example, MSM (men who have sex with men), WSW (women who have sex with women), culturally specific terms, or reclaimed terms like dyke or slut. A client’s preferred name and pronoun should be used in person and, in almost all cases, in documentation. These may be gendered (he or she) or if the client prefers, gender-neutral (they, or the client’s preferred gender neutral term). Similarly, psychologists should use the client’s preferred term for their relationship and understand how they define it.

Slut, apparently is a "reclaimed term".

The post quickly gained attention, and within an hour, the official account for BPS responded, stating that the term was "long established psychological/psychotherapeutic practice" and was in line with guidance. They went on to state that the term "slut" had been reclaimed by feminists.

The response rapidly attracted hundreds of confused comments from women and feminists, most replies echoing the question asked by one user by the handle of La Scapigliata who stated, "Two scenarios in which a patient might demand a HCP refer to them as "slut" – a traumatised woman or a male fetishist. In either scenario it is unacceptable. "

Dr. Jessica Taylor, a feminist psychologist and bestselling author, also replied to the BPS today, noting that the word had been used to oppress women and had "definitely not been 'reclaimed.'"

Presumably what the BPS is thinking of is the phenomenon of the SlutWalk, which was a protest movement against women being blamed for their rape by their supposedly slutty appearance, after a Toronto police officer suggested that "women should avoid dressing like sluts". That might at a stretch be viewed as reclaiming the term, but I'd have thought that the power of it relied more on the word "slut" retaining its meaning as a cheap and nasty put down of women. 

But the whole BPS statement is riddled with gender theory. For more on that, see here.