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| Cal Poly Pomona has been invited by the LACAAW to participate in Denim Day in L.A., a sexual assault awareness rally held Wednesday, April 21, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration in Los Angeles. |
In recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Cal Poly Pomona has been invited by the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women to participate in Denim Day in L.A., a rally on Wednesday, April 21, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration in Los Angeles. People throughout L.A. will wear jeans on this day as a symbol of awareness about sexual assault.
The university is arranging bus transportation, funded by Supervisor Gloria Molina, to bring more than 100 interested faculty, staff and students (including I-Poly students) to the rally, an event highly visible through the media. Actress Calista Flockhart (?Ally McBeal?) will serve as spokeswoman along with local, state and federal legislators.
The ReEntry & WoMen?s Resource Center will coordinate campus participation in the rally. For more information or to reserve a seat on the bus, contact Pat Davis, director of the center, at (909) 869-3206. More information can also be found at www.denimdayinla.org.
Cal Poly Pomona faculty and staff are also invited to wear jeans and speak out against misconceptions of sexual assault on Denim Day, recognized on campus on Tuesday, April 13.
?Universities have long been a leader in raising social consciousness,? says President Michael Ortiz. ?It is important to understand the perceptions that surround sexual assault to ensure a safe learning and working environment.?
This event was born from the international protest of a decision handed down by the Italian Supreme Court in 1999, in which the court ruled that a young woman could not have been raped because she was wearing jeans at the time of the assault. The court said that because jeans are impossible to take off if someone is resisting, the victim must have aided him, thus giving her consent. Immediately following the publication of the decision, women members of the Italian Parliament wore jeans in protest.
Sexual Assault Awareness Month is cosponsored by the Stop Violence Office, Student?s TALK, ReEntry & WoMen?s Resource Center, National Organization for Women and University Housing Services. For a list of events throughout the month of April, visit www.stopviolencegrantoffice.org/calendar.htm.