Ozarks Technical Community College to host sexual violence awareness program on Denim Day

Ozarks Technical Community College will host a program featuring law enforcement, medical and counseling representatives on Thursday, April 22, as a part of the international Denim Day event, designed to educate and raise awareness about rape and sexual assault.  The program will take place at 10 a.m. in room 100CD of the Information Commons West, at the College’s Springfield campus, 1001 E. Chestnut Expressway.  All students and employees are encouraged to wear denim in support of the day’s events.

The program will feature Darrell Moore, Greene County Prosecutor, and Melinda Vacey from The Victim Center, as well as long-time emergency room physician Dr. James Blaine, currently of OTC’s Health and Wellness Clinic.  In addition to the program, instructors and Student Ambassadors will be handing out pins, bookmarks and whistles throughout the day at all of the College’s campuses and education centers.

In 1999, after an Italian High Court ruling that overturned a rape conviction because the victim was wearing tight jeans, the women of the Italian legislature protested the decision by wearing jeans to work.  As news of the verdict spread, so did the protest; the first Denim Day in the United States was established in California in April of 1999.