STORY & PHOTO BY PIXIE IWATA
STAFF WRITER
Cypress College’s Health Center, Active Minds, and EOPS hosted a resource fair at the Gateway Plaza on Wednesday, April 27th in observation of Denim Day.
Denim Day is practiced on the last Wednesday of April every year in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. On this day it is encouraged to wear denim to spread awareness about the misconceptions of sexual assault and violence.
This day of action began in 1999 due to a ruling by the Italian Supreme Court which overturned a rape conviction. They believed that the young woman’s jeans were too tight, so she must have helped the man who raped her take them off. Every year since this ruling, the Peace Over Violence organization has organized Denim Day, which is now celebrated across the world.
To commemorate this day, the Health Center provided resources for those who have experienced sexual violence or assault. There were tents propped up from the EOPS, Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services, and other resources to provide knowledge and help for students.
All over the plaza t-shirts were hanging up for the Orange County Clothesline Project. Each shirt color represented something different. For example, black was sexual harassment, green and blue were child sexual abuse, grey was human trafficking, etc.
All the shirts had a quote written on them from the victims or the victim’s family members telling their stories.
Denim Day Resources:
Sexual Abuse Victims Hotline: 1.800.656.HOPE Crisis TEXT Hotline: Text SIGNS to 741741 https://www.nsvrc.org/
Cypress College Resources:
Cypress College Health Center: (714) 484-7361 Charger Assessment Team (ChAT)
