For the past 17 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.

The Office for Sexual Violence Response and Healthy Relationship Promotion is proudly endorsing this national day of recognition on our campus and encourages all of our campus community to wear a pair of jeans on Wednesday, April 27, and don a sticker that says “ask me why I am wearing jeans” as a symbol of solidarity for survivors of sexual violence on our campus. Show your support online by posting a picture of yourself in jeans using the hashtags #denimday and #drakesaam. For more information about Denim Day visit: http://denimdayinfo.org/

—Alysa Mozak, Coordinator for Sexual Violence Response and Healthy Relationship Promotion