(WARRENSBURG, Mo.) – It’s On Us UCM has organized Denim Day, a day where the campus community pays $3 to wear jeans April 25, to recognize National Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

The organization has placed envelopes around campus for participants to donate money and sign up to receive a complimentary Denim Day pin. The money raised will go to the local Survival House to provide for victims of sexual and domestic violence.

Samantha Walker, junior and vice president of It’s On Us, said the organization hosts the event to show support for a woman who was raped by her driving instructor in 1982 in Italy.

“Initially, she won her court case, but then he (the instructor) appealed, and took it to court again, and the judge ruled that because her jeans were tight, it must have been consensual sex because he could get her jeans off,” Walker said.

Walker said people started wearing jeans to show that they supported the woman and the cause against sexual abuse.

It’s On Us has also set out boxes in the Student Activity office and Student Recreation and Wellness Center to collect jeans that will be donated to the Survival House in Warrensburg.

Walker said the event is important for several reasons.

“It’s important to raise money and support these organizations around our campus that help against abuse and violence,” she said. “I also think it’s important to, like the Denim Day slogan says, stand up against rape and show that we still support her and her case. We’re advocating for justice.”

For more information or to participate in Denim Day, contact Rhonda Neill at neill@ucmo.edu or call 660-543-4044.