Denim Day at HU Targets Violence Against Women

Hampton, VA - Hampton University is hosting “Denim Day” Wednesday, April 21, in an effort to raise awareness against the sexual assault of women, girls, boys, and men. The effort also stands in support of victims and survivors of sexual violence, and breaking the silence against sexual assault. The event is being sponsored by the HU Fighting Violence Against Women Project, spearheaded by the HU Health Center’s family nurse practitioner, Darylnet Lyttle.

Denim Day is an internationally recognized campaign during Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April, created to raise public awareness about rape and sexual assault. It began as the result of a Supreme Court case in Italy, where the high court decided to overturn a rape case conviction where the judge declared the victim was partly to blame for wearing tight jeans.

HU faculty, staff and students can show support by wearing denim jeans, and a teal ribbon, April 21, and signing a pledge at either the Dean of Men or Dean of Women offices in the HU Student Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 20. Once students sign the pledge they can pick up “Denim Day” T-shirts at the HU Office of Student Activities.

Various events are planned for the day, including a Sexual Assault Awareness Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Student Center Atrium. There will also be a balloon launch at noon outside the HU Student Center. Additionally, at 7 p.m. Tanisha Bagley, author of The Price of Love, will be part of the panel “Love is Blind.” Bagley, who is a sexual assault survivor, is a public speaker and entrepreneur.

“As part of this awareness effort we want students to be able to identify healthy relationships and stalking,” said Lyttle. “The project hopes to accomplish raising awareness of sexual assault among women at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU).” In 2008, according to the U.S. Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics, 57 percent of sexual assaults against females were committed by an offender whom they knew, and 1 out of 5 sexual assaults against females were committed by an intimate partner.

In this effort, HU partnered with the group Ending Violence Against Women (EVAW): The HBCU Project. EVAW focuses on five forms of violence common to women on college campuses: cyberstalking, dating and domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault and stalking. Clark Atlanta and Howard universities are among six HBCU’s involved across the country. For more event information contact Lyttle at 757.727.5315 or darylnet.lyttle@hamptonu.edu.