UW Prepares for Denim Day Activities with Special Guest

Denim Day, the world’s largest-running sexual violence prevention and education campaign, will be observed on the University of Wyoming campus Wednesday, April 23.

UW and surrounding communities are invited to wear their jeans in solidarity with survivors of sexual violence, participate in a “Pro-Active Green Dot” event and to consider a gift to the Survivor Emergency Fund. The Denim Day campaign inspires and mobilizes individuals and the community by providing tools, messaging and an accessible call to action: wearing jeans and other denim with a purpose.

Denim Day was initiated after an Italian Supreme Court case sparked international outrage when a judge overturned a lower court’s conviction of a rapist because the victim wore tight jeans. The judges ruled that, because the victim was wearing tight jeans, she must have helped her attacker remove them, thus implying consent.

At UW, Denim Day coincides with a Green Dot Day of Action event at 11 a.m. with educational and awareness activities on Simpson Plaza and the Wyoming Union. Bob Vines, UW violence prevention coordinator, urges people to wear their denim and Green Dot gear on Denim Day “to make a social statement with their fashion statement,” and that “violence is not tolerated here and everyone is expected to do their part in ending it.”

UW’s Violence Prevention Center is hosting poet, author and educator Kyle Tran Myhre on campus. Myhre, also known as “Guante,” has performed on a Grammy-winning album; at the United Nations; on two Slam Poetry National Championship teams; and has had more than 10 million views of his online poetry.

“Kyle is really adept at using art as an entry point for difficult conversations about violence prevention in a way that is entertaining, energetic and inspirational,” Vines says.

Myhre will perform at Pokes Pub at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 23, and will be joined onstage by local poets sharing their respective art.

Denim Day also serves as a day of fundraising for the Survivor Emergency Fund. The fund serves as a critical student success tool to alleviate the financial burden many student survivors face because of their victimization so that they can focus on their academic progression, Vines says.

To learn more and/or to contribute to the fund, go here.

The community also is encouraged to attend a Green Dot training to gain skills as bystanders using one of the “3 Ds” -- direct, distract and delegate -- to prevent sexual and interpersonal violence. The final student bystander training will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 26, in the Family Room of the Wyoming Union.

To register, go here.

“If you or someone you know is in need of support related to sexual assault, relationship abuse, sexual harassment or stalking, please know you are not alone and support is available,” Vines adds.

The following are confidential and non-confidential resources:

Confidential resources can be found at UW’s University Counseling Center, Psychology Center and Employee Assistance Program; Albany County SAFE Project; and Ivinson Memorial Hospital SANE program.

Non-confidential resources are at UW’s Dean of Students Office; Equal Opportunity Report and Response/Title IX office; and Police Department.

For more information, call the UW Dean of Students Office at (307) 766-3298 or email dos@uwyo.edu.