Denim Day gives voice to victims

Survivors of sexual assault, abuse share experiences to promote sex crime awareness

The annual Denim Day event, when people come together all over the world and wear denim during the events as a reminder that your clothes don’t determine consent, took place on the Mall in front of the Great Hall at Pierce on Wednesday, April 29.

Event coordinator Holly Hagan has experienced sexual assault and domestic violence, and believes that there’s something to be learned from victims’ stories.

“I’m a survivor of both sexual assault and domestic violence,” Hagan said. “If something bad happens to you, bring awareness.”

Denim Day began after the Italian Supreme Court overturned a rape conviction. The court ruled that because the victim was wearing tight jeans, she must have assisted in taking them off, making it consensual and not rape.

One of the ways the event brings awareness is through the Clothesline

Project, which uses t-shirts to tell the stories of people who have suffered violence or abuse. Messages written on the shirts, which were hung on clotheslines, told the stories of students who had been victims of sexual and domestic violence. The display served as an outlet for survivors and brought awareness to these issues.

“The Clothesline Project allows students who were victims or survivors of rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, same sex issues and stalking to tell their stories,” Hagan said. “They write their stories on t-shirts, and we display the shirts for awareness,” Hagan said.

Students and faculty took notice of the shirts along the Mall. Kariann Coe, psychology major, was one of many who stopped to read them.

“I suffer from anxiety and depression myself, and I know what it feels like to be scared and not know what to do about it,” Coe said.

“Of course it’s nothing compared to what some of these people have gone through.”

Sexual assault, domestic violence