April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The Center for Children, in partnership with Colorado Mesa University, aims to raise awareness and dispel myths regarding sexual assault.

“The intent of the What Were You Wearing? (WWYW?), the art installation is to move viewers away from assumptions that place blame on victims of violence and challenges them to look beyond gender, clothing, the decisions the survivor did, or didn’t make, or even where they were at the time of the assault,” stated Madissen Bottin, BSW senior and intern at Center for Children. “Viewing the exhibit challenges viewers to consider the rape culture myth around what a person was wearing and reflect on what gives this long-held belief so much power.”

Colorado Mesa University and Center for Children partner with local agencies Latimer House, ArtLight Therapy & Studios, and Goodwill of Colorado, to support the art installation. The WWYW? exhibit was free and open to the public with two showings:

 The ArtLight Therapy & Studios was shown on April 7 from 5:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. on the second floor of Lowell School, 310 North 7th. There is another coming up at the Colorado Mesa University Meyer Ballroom on April 24 and 25 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. 

WWYW? was created & first displayed at the University of Arkansas in 2014. In 2017, WWYW? went viral after it was displayed at the University of Kansas & was covered by the Lawrence Journal-World Daily newspaper published in Lawrence, KS.

WWYW? has been recreated on six continents thousands of times since 2017. All outfits on display are recreations from Survivor stories donated to WWYW.

More WWYW? information can be found at https://sapec.ku.edu/wwyw

How do you report if you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual violence?

Make a report by calling or texting CMU’s sexual assault response team (SART) hotline:  970.270.5895. 

Or contact the National Sexual Assault Hot Line:1.800.656.4673.

For more information about sexual violence please visit: www.rainn.org

– Madi Botten, senior social work student and Child Advocate Center employee