What Were You Wearing is an art exhibit created to challenge the victim blaming mentality and myth that survivors provoke perpetrators with their clothing choices and/or behavior. The reality is that survivors are never to blame for violence enacted against them, and no clothing choice invites sexual violence.
Norse Violence Prevention, the Care Closet and SOTA Advising are partnering to host NKU’s third annual What Were You Wearing exhibit during Sexual Assault Awareness Month. We are collecting stories from NKU community members who have experienced sexual violence and will display these anonymous stories and outfits in the Student Union 3rd Floor Lobby from April 1st through 11th.
We will be collecting stories from NKU community members to include in the exhibit. If you’d like to submit your story including a description of what you were wearing, please check back during our submission window. We will use your description to recreate an outfit for the display.
Submissions will be accepted February 6th through February 27th. For questions, feel free to contact nvp@nku.edu.
NKU’s What Were You Wearing exhibit will be on display in the Student Union 3rd floor lobby from April 1st through April 11th, 2025.
Join us for an opening walk through following Take Back the Night on April 1st at 6:30pm.
The first installation of What Were You Wearing was hosted at University of Arkansas in 2014. The original exhibit, created by Jen Brockman and Mary Wyandt-Hiebert, was inspired by Mary Simmerling’s poem, titled, “What I Was Wearing”.
Similar exhibits have since been displayed at various colleges and venues nationally, including the United Nations Headquarters exhibit in summer 2022.
Northern Kentucky University
Albright Health Center 246
1 Nunn Drive
Highland Heights, KY 41099
Local: +1 (859) 572-5865
