The Van Wert County Courthouse

Thursday, Mar. 28, 2024

YWCA promotes sexual assault awareness

VW independent/submitted information

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) and the YWCA of Van Wert County will be bringing awareness to this important topic through a social media and website campaign  the entire month.

 “Due to the social distancing order related to COVID-19, we have had to be creative with how we can bring awareness to sexual assault without having in-person events. We will be using our social media platforms and website to bring crucial data and information to the community about topics such as consent, rape culture, and sexual assault prevention,” said YWCA Outreach Coordinator, Julie Schaufelberger.  

YWCA Director of Victim Services Jamie Evans states the importance of this month’s awareness campaign. “Fortunately, we can still make people mindful of our rape crisis services via social media and we still look to be impactful regarding prevention and consent with the information which will be posted,” Evans said. “Ideally we want to be out in the community meeting people to have open discussions about sexual assault awareness and our services, but we are doing the best we can under the circumstances.” 

One event that will not change is Denim Day. Each year, businesses are asked to wear denim as a show of support for victims of sexual assault and that no matter what, no one deserves to be raped. Denim Day grew out of an Italian Supreme Court decision that overturned a rape conviction on the basis of what the victim was wearing. The chief judge in the case said: “because the victim wore very tight jeans, she had to help him remove them, and by removing the jeans it was no longer rape, but consensual sex.”  Enraged by the verdict, the women in the Italian Parliament protested by wearing jeans to work in support of the victim. Wearing jeans became an international symbol of protest against erroneous and destructive attitudes and myths surrounding sexual assault. The full story of Denim Day may be found on the event page of the YWCA website (www.ywcavanwert.org). 

This year, Denim Day is set for Wednesday April 29. The YWCA will provide Denim Day stickers to any business to disperse for employees to explain why they are wearing denim to work that day. Businesses may contact Julie Schaufelberger for stickers by either calling 419.238.6639, extension 108, or emailing julies@ywcavanwertcounty.org

Daily social media posts will begin on Facebook (YWCA of Van Wert County) and Twitter (@YWCA of Van Wert) on April 1 and continue until April 30.  Information will also be available on the events page YWCA website (www.ywcavanwert.org)

 “There will be some interesting information and links for social media and website followers to engage in regarding this month’s awareness campaign and we hope people will take a few minutes each day to increase their knowledge,” Schaufelberger said. 

POSTED: 04/01/20 at 8:48 am. FILED UNDER: News