As part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, members of the University of Miami community were encouraged to wear jeans as part of Denim Day, a day supporting global rape prevention education.
Coordinated through University Compliance Services and the University Student Center Complex, the event featured was held at the Lakeside Patio and featured speakers from the University encouraging participation in sexual violence prevention and awareness programs at UM.
Bonnie Muschett, Director of Compliance and the University’s Title IX Coordinator organized the event and spoke to the crowd.
“Through the new Set the Pace for Prevention initiative, University Compliance Services encourages participation in sexual violence prevention and awareness programs not only during Sexual Assault Awareness Month, but throughout the year.”
Established by Peace Over Violence, the Denim Day campaign was triggered by a 1999 Italian Supreme Court ruling that overturned a rape conviction because the justices believed the victim must have helped her assailant remove her tight jeans, thereby implying her consent. The day after the ruling, women in the Italian Parliament came to work wearing jeans in solidarity with the victim.
