West Virginia State University students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to wear jeans with a purpose on Wednesday, April 14, 2021, to support survivors, raise awareness, educate ourselves about rape and sexual assault, and show our solidarity for all those who are survivors of rape, assault or harassment of any kind. Faculty and staff are permitted to wear jeans on Wednesday and every employee wearing denim is asked to donate $5. All proceeds will go to the local Rape Education, Advocacy, Counseling & Healing (REACH) Center. Cash donations may be made at the Cashier’s Office.
Denim Day is an international campaign that takes place on a Wednesday in April in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The campaign began after 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 the person who raped her 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, what started as a local campaign to bring awareness to victim blaming has grown into a movement. As the longest running sexual violence prevention and education campaign in history, Denim Day asks community members, elected officials, businesses and students to make a social statement with their fashion statement by wearing jeans on this day as a visible means of protest against the misconceptions that surround sexual violence.
