The Center for Peacemaking and the Center for Student Wellness and Health Promotion are putting on events on Wednesday, April 24, in honor of Denim Day. The campus community is invited to show support for survivors of sexual assault by wearing jeans to call for an end to myths surrounding sexual violence.
Events include:
- Denim display and tabling | 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Central Mall
- Denim Day Resource Fair | 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the second floor of the AMU
- Denim Day guest speaker: Obbie West | 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. in Marquette Hall 100
- Denim Day Fashion Show | 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the Weasler Auditorium
All events are free with no registration required.
For over 20 years, Peace Over Violence has run its Denim Day Campaign on a Wednesday in April in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The campaign was originally sparked by a ruling by the Italian Supreme Court where a rape conviction was overturned because the justices felt that since the victim was wearing tight jeans, she must have helped her rapist remove her jeans – thereby implying consent. The following day, the women in the Italian Parliament came to work wearing jeans in solidarity with the victim. Since then, wearing jeans on Denim Day has become a symbol of protest against erroneous and destructive attitudes about sexual assault.
