One in five young women between the ages of 16-24 will be sexually assaulted while in college, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Young collegiate women will also experience higher rates of dating violence and stalking at that age. Sexual assault on college campuses is a real issue and one that HBCU students nationwide refuse to ignore. Today, 12 HBCU schools are participating in Denim Day at HBCUS 2013, a campaign to mobilize student bodies to spread awareness and fight to end sexual violence against women.
Students at Spelman College, Morehouse College, Bowie State University, Hampton University and Florida A&M University are among those participating in today’s campaign. They’re calling their peers to action and wearing jeans and Denim Day t-shirts to show support and spread the word. Over 6,000 students are said to be participating and at least 2,000 will sign the No Violence Against Women (NO VAW) HBCU Pledge.
In 2008, The Wright Group, a health and human services organization based in Washington, D.C., made a five-year commitment to support HBCUs with see funding to address gender based violence on campus and the Ending Violence Against Women: HBCU Project was born. Students who’d like to sign the pledge or find out how they can participate today should visit HCUEndingViolence.com now. Use #DDATHBCUs or #DenimDayAtHBCUs to participate and share your photos and stories.
Watch Spelman College student, Banah Ghadbian (C’2015) share her poem, “My Sisters Are Rising,” during her campus’ Denim Day 2012.