During the month of April, the Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Center will hold events for Sexual Assault Awareness Month in order to provide education about sexual assault and inspire activism, according to the organization’s website.

RSVP Center coordinator Danica Wolf said the nationwide message for Sexual Assault Awareness Month this year is “It’s time to talk about it.” The center hopes to open up the conversation through the events planned for this month.

“Sexual Assault Awareness Month is a time to encourage MU campus community members to learn about the realities of sexual assault and what they can do every day to help prevent these crimes from occurring,” Wolf said.

Events scheduled for this month include a STARS Speaks discussion about violence in the LGBTQ community, a sexual violence medical panel and Denim Day, which encourages everyone to wear jeans on April 26.

Denim Day is inspired by a 1992 rape case of an Italian woman that was overturned by the Italian High Court in 1999 on the grounds that she was wearing “very tight jeans” at the time of the attack, therefore the perpetrator could not have taken them off himself and the woman had to have “willingly participated.” Women in the Italian legislature wore jeans to protest and in April 1999, California declared the first Denim Day.

“Denim Day promotes against blaming the victim,” junior Danielle Dewoskin said. “The victim is not willing, and it’s not their fault.”

Wolf said the most common misconceptions about sexual assault are that it is the victim’s fault or that a victim does not know the person who sexually assaults them.

“In reality, most survivors know their perpetrator, even when these crimes happen on our campus,” Wolfe said. “No one but the perpetrator can absolutely prevent an assault, but we know that if bystanders are actively intervening, the likelihood of an assault occurring is greatly decreased.”

The RSVP Center regularly promotes its Green Dot program, which teaches students how to intervene when they see someone who is in a situation that is at risk of becoming sexually violent. RSVP wants bystanders to “direct, distract and delegate‚” to prevent situations of sexual violence and assault.

“One in four women are affected by sexual assault, and that’s just the reported cases,” junior Kayla Jackson said. “Spreading education is so important because we really want to lower statistics.”

Although Sexual Assault Awareness Month only lasts until the end of April, Wolf said violence prevention has to happen all year long. She encourages students to do this by asking questions, providing help to survivors and following the steps of the Green Dot program during a concerning situation.

“We like to say, ‘No one has to do everything, but everyone can do something,'” Wolf said. “Anything someone does to prevent sexual violence brings us a step closer to ending violence at Mizzou.”