The month of April is nationally recognized as Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM). According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, SAAM is part of a national effort to raise awareness and educate about sexual violence and how to prevent it. DU will be holding a variety of events throughout the month of April, which are presented by the Center for Advocacy, Prevention and Empowerment (CAPE).
According to CAPE Director Dr. Gillian Kaag, DU has been celebrating SAAM for a number of years.
“[SAAM] has been recognized by DU since at least 2006 when the Gender Violence Education and Support Services office was established,” said Kaag. “The office was renamed and rebranded the spring of 2013, which also marked the first year of CAPE’s annual Consent Carnival and ‘Consent is Sexy’ campaign as well as the beginning of the DU B.O.S.S. program.”
This year’s SAAM programming includes both ongoing and scheduled events. Throughout the entire month, the Clothesline Project will be installed in the Anderson Academic Commons and along the Driscoll Bridge. The project was originally inspired by the AIDS Memorial Quilt and allows survivors of personal and intimate violence to anonymously tell their stories by writing them on T-shirts that are then displayed on clotheslines to raise awareness. The shirts were decorated by survivors, friends and allies at DU and are now on display.
On April 15, DU is participating in Denim Day, which originally began as a protest against the overturning of a rape conviction in Italy in 1999. The conviction was overruled by the Italian Supreme Court because the victim was wearing jeans, which was considered “implied consent” by the court because the jeans would have allegedly been too difficult for the accused rapist to remove without her help. Students, faculty and staff are invited to wear denim on April 15 to show solidarity against the misconceptions and destructive culture surrounding sexual assault.
DU’s Sexual Assault Awareness Summit, hosted by The Women’s Coalition, will also take place on April 21, 23 and 24. The theme for this year’s summit is “Engaging Our Communities: Multi-Angled Discussion on Sexual Assault.”
According to Lori Scott, a sophomore gender and women’s studies and sociology major who was involved in planning the summit, the theme was inspired by the idea of communication across different communities.
“We wanted to encourage conversation within particular demographics or associations—such as men, greek life, athletics, student activists, communities of color and the queer community—because we felt that those groups could relate to one another in special ways and build strength from there,” said Scott. “We also wanted to encourage cross-community discussion through broader discussions we hope to facilitate through workshops . . . It was our goal to set up the summit in a way that brought people from all different viewpoints together in order to formulate innovative and productive plans of action.”
The summit will also include speaker Dr. Jackson Katz, who will deliver a lecture on April 21 entitled, “Tough Guise: Violence, Media and the Crisis in Masculinity.” The speech is sponsored by the Student Coalition for the Eradication of Sexual Assault (SCESA) and is open to the public in addition to summit participants.
Kaag listed the lecture as one of the highlights of the month’s programming.
“We are most excited to be partnering with USG’s Student Coalition for the Eradication of Sexual Assault, Greek Council, the Title IX Office and Graduate Women’s Council to bring one of America’s leading anti-sexist male activists, Dr. Jackson Katz to present his lecture,” said Kaag. “Katz is internationally recognized for his groundbreaking work in the field of gender violence prevention and education and critical media literacy.”
Throughout the rest of the summit, attendees are invited to attend workshops, panels and discussions on a variety of topics surrounding sexual assault, such as “Innovations in Campus Prevention Strategies: Reclaiming Women’s Sexuality,” “Sexual Assault and Prevention in the Queer Community,” “The Greek Community: Response and Prevention,” “Media Representations and Rape Culture” and others.
On April 23, the Center for Multicultural Excellence (CME) and DU Programming Board (DUPB) are sponsoring a free screening of “The Hunting Ground,” a documentary examining rape crimes and culture on American college campuses. The screening is part of the summit schedule, but is open to the public and does not require registration.
The keynote address of the summit will take place on April 24, and will feature Michelle Spradling, Project Director of the Sexual Assault Interagency Council (SAIC) and Public Policy Committee Chair for the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
Students, faculty and staff can register for the Sexual Assault Awareness Summit for free under the Sexual Assault Awareness Summit section on the DU Women’s Coalition website. Registration is required for workshops, panels and the keynote address.
DU’s SAAM programming will culminate with the Consent Carnival, taking place on April 30 from 11 a.m – 4 p.m. This free annual event features games, entertainment, food, prizes and music and is centered on educating attendees about the concept of consent in intimate relationships.
Kaag said that overall, she is pleased with the campus response to this year’s events.
“We are excited about the energy students, faculty, staff and administration have been putting towards supporting sexual assault prevention and response,” she said.
For more information about SAAM at DU, or to get involved in SAAM events and programs, email CAPE at hcc.capefellow1@du.edu. You can also ‘like’ CAPE’s Facebook page to receive updates via social media.
