To help increase awareness about sexual assault, Eastern Michigan University's Police Departmentparticipated in Denim Day on Wednesday. 89.1 WEMU's Jorge Avellan has the story.
"Excuse me, do you want to sign our jeans to protest sexual violence?"
EMU Police Officer Cathy Wilman informs students and staff at the student center about the importance of sexual consent. She says both parties should not be under the influence of any substance and need to give affirmative consent in all sexual activity that takes place.
"And then it could be withdrawn at any time. So if people say yes, I'm moving forward, and as they're moving forward they say, actually just kidding, I'm not feeling good about this, let's go ahead and take it back a notch, they can do that at any time," said Wilman.
I spoke with a student who did not want to be identified, and she said that while she knows both parties need to consent, sometimes the situation is a bit more difficult to deal with.
"I'm in a relationship right now, which the line for consent, actually. When we first had sex, I said yes, but I was like yes, and we did it. But I wasn't sure. And that led to a lot of pain for me," said the student.
The Denim Day campaign has taken place for the last 20 years after the Italian Supreme Court overturned a rape conviction, because the justices felt that since the victim was wearing tight jeans, she must have helped the person who raped her remove them.
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— Jorge Avellan is a reporter for 89.1 WEMU News. Contact him at 734.487.3363 or email him javellan@emich.edu
