Sexual Assault Awareness Month

• April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. In honor and support of Sexual Assault Survivors, UIU will be participating in an online virtual challenge created by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC).

• Earn wellness points in the month of April is to participate in at least 5 challenges that are posted below in the calendar of events!  Please remember to submit your evidence through the myUIU wellness activity tracking page.  You can earn 1 point per challenge you participate in up to 5 points for the month (in addition to the points listed below for Wear Teal Day and Denim Day)

• Everyone is invited to participate in Wear Teal day on April 6th and post your photo to  UIU.EDU/SAAM with the following hashtags: #UIUSAAM or submit your photo online at the wellness activity tracking page through myUIU. This will be worth 2 wellness points.  Additionally, we invite you to also observe Denim Day on Wednesday, April 28th. The history and significance of these two dates are explained below.  Help be part of the movement to Stop Sexual Violence.  Please post a photo of your denim day attire below or by submitting your photo to the wellness activity tracking page through myUIU.  Participating in denim day can also earn you 2 wellness points.

The movement to prevent and raise awareness surrounding sexual assaults began as far back as the 1940s and 50s.

These efforts were championed largely by Black women and women of color. These foundations led to activism and calls for legislation starting in the 1970s.

In 2000, the newly launched National Sexual Violence Resource Center and the Resource Sharing Project polled sexual violence coalitions. They asked organizations about their preferred color, symbol, and month for sexual assault awareness activities.

The results showed that those in the movement preferred a teal ribbon as a symbol for sexual assault awareness, and SAAM as we know it was born.

For the past 22 years, Peace Over Violence has run an inspiring and powerful opportunity to practice solidarity and support survivors by renewing our commitment to exposing harmful behaviors and attitudes surrounding sexual violence.

Denim Day is a campaign 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 and destructive myths that surround sexual violence 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.