Pace Women's Justice Center and Sen. Mayer host toiletry drive for sexual assault victims

The Pace Women's Justice Center and State Sen. Shelley B. Mayer are hosting a toiletry drive through April 27 for sexual assault and domestic violence victims.

The drive, held to acknowledge April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month, is accepting full-sized toiletry and hygiene products such as shampoo, conditioner, body wash, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant and feminine hygiene products.

"Many of us do not think twice about having essential items like deodorant or toothpaste as we prepare for the day," said Sen. Mayer. "However, for some, these items can be too expensive and may be sacrificed in order to buy food or pay rent."

Where you can drop off essential supplies

Drop-off locations include:

• Sen. Shelley Mayer's Office: 235 Mamaroneck Ave., Ste 400, White Plains
• Ottinger Hall: Elisabeth Haub School of Law, at Pace University, 78 N Broadway, White Plains
• Grinton I. Will Library: 1500 Central Park Avenue, Yonkers
• Pound Ridge Town House: 179 Westchester Ave, Pound Ridge
• Tuckahoe Village Hall: 65 Main St #209, Tuckahoe

“By collecting everyday essentials, we’re not only meeting basic needs — we’re offering moments of self-care that are vital in the transition from crisis to healing,” said Cindy Kanusher.

Sexual Assault Awareness Month events in the Lower Hudson Valley

The Pace Women's Justice Center is holding additional events during Sexual Assault Awareness Month to honor and support victims of assault and domestic violence in the Lower Hudson Valley.
The center will be hosting its own observance of worldwide Denim Day from noon to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 23, at the Kessel Gottesman Room at Pace University.

Denim Day was created in 1999 by Peace Over Violence, a sexual and domestic violence prevention center located in Los Angeles, to encourage people internationally to wear denim as a symbol of solidarity with sexual assault survivors and victims.

The organization said it created the campaign after the Italian Supreme Court overturned a rape conviction in 1992 because "the justices felt that since the victim was wearing tight jeans, she must have helped the person who raped her remove them, thereby implying consent."

Following the ruling, the organization said women in the Italian Parliament came to work in jeans as a movement of solidarity with the 18-year-old victim.

The Pace Women's Center's second event for Sexual Assault Awareness Month is Take Back the Night, another national initiative to call for an end to sexual assault, domestic violence, sexual abuse and child abuse. The Pace University Take Back the Night event will be held 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 24, at the Alumni Hall Courtyard lawn.

The event was created in the 1970s after instances of sexual violence against women during nighttime hours were being reported across the country from Philadelphia to San Francisco, organizers said on the event's webpage. The first Take Back the Night was held in 1972 at the University of Southern Florida, where women on campus took up witches' brooms and donned black capes while they marched through campus to demand better safety measures for women both on and off campus.

Since then, several college campuses throughout the United States have held rallies, speak outs and marches on the global day of action, which will fall on Thursday, April 24, 2025.