April 26, 2017
Sexual Violence Awareness Month: Denim Day
Kansas State University is honoring Denim Day today. Students, faculty and staff can join the CARE office in this rape prevention education campaign by wearing jeans as a visible means of protest against the misconceptions that surround sexual assault.
According to Rainn.org, 11.2 percent of all students — among all graduate and undergraduate students — experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation. Wear denim to show your support of the campaign and to help the CARE office bring awareness to sexual assault. Counseling Services and the CARE office will be tabling from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 26 in the K-State Student Union. These offices, along with the LGBT Resource Center and the Office of Student Life also will participate in this event.
For the past 18 years, Peace Over Violence has run its Denim Day campaign on a Wednesday in April in honor of Sexual Violence Awareness Month. The campaign was originally triggered 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. Peace Over Violence developed the Denim Day campaign in response to this case and the activism surrounding it. Since then, wearing jeans on Denim Day has become a symbol of protest against erroneous and destructive attitudes about sexual assault.
For more information contact Casie Duplissey at casieduplissey@k-state.edu.