SAVE draws upon history to advocate for sexual assault survivors
On Saturday, Mar. 28, a group of volunteers gathered at The Alley Makerspace for Denim Day to paint jeans in support of sexual assault survivors, organized by the Sexual Assault and Violence Education (SAVE) club.
Secretary of SAVE, Bailee Shankleton, explains the origin of Denim Day stemmed from an Italian Supreme Court case ruling in 1992 where “they determined that in order for the assaulter to do that to her, her jeans were skinny enough to where she would have had to help him. And essentially victim blaming. But no is a full sentence. It doesn’t matter what circumstances it is. It’s not okay.” Shackleton adds that “people might just not even know about [sexual assault]. It might not be super conventional to talk about like other issues of home life, however the injury, and mental impact is significant. If people can’t talk about it there’s really no way to cope. I like that we can gather people here, with the idea that it doesn’t matter whether you’ve been through this or not, that we can gather in support of this cause.”
SAVE President, Nicole Keating, describes ”decorating jeans, writing messages of support, saying we believe you, that consent is important” as a way of affirming victims and also the club’s goal of “breaking that taboo feeling.” Keating explains that the goal of hosting Denim Day is to “stop victim blaming, and gather Michigan Tech students to talk about this serious topic with them.”
Outside of Denim Day, the SAVE club passes out ribbons for domestic violence awareness, posts signs across campus, and works closely with the local women’s shelter, Barbara Kettle Gundlach Shelter Home (BKGSH), which they fundraised $200 for last year. Keating hopes to “make more events like this where conversations about healthy relationships, and safe communities are formed.” Allie Browne, Vice President and Co-refounder of SAVE, remarked that although Denim Day is on Apr. 29, the club has “taken it as an activity do before April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness month, as a representation of solidarity.” Shankleton adds that, “We’re late in the semester, so we can educate people and give them something fun to do like painting jeans; relieving stress at the same time while contributing to an important cause.”
SAVE is collaborating with Wellbeing Advocates for their final big event of the year: “Tie Together for Warmth.” Browne says that as the Wellbeing Advocates President for the last two and a half years, this will be her “last passion project before [she graduates]. It’s been something [she’s] been meaning to do for the last two years but this past semester [she] finally hankered down and got to it.” These tie blankets will serve survivors and their children at the BKGSH, and is an easy way to get more people involved while making a local impact. Browne notes that “it shows that the Michigan Tech community stands with the larger Keweenaw community.” The event will be on Monday, Apr. 6 from 5 to 8 p.m. in the Alley and counts as service hours via GivePulse.
Browne concludes that she would like people to know that “that they’re not alone in the mental health feelings that they feel and that there are resources,” adding that “if you want to continue to make a community difference or impact, you can join.”
Wellbeing Advocates currently meet biweekly Wednesday at 5 p.m. Contact SAVE Club President Nicole Keating at nckeatin@mtu.edu to be added to their email list.
