April was sexual assault awareness month, and Denim Day, April 29th, is noted by an international campaign to raise awareness and support survivors of sexual assault. On Wednesday community members, elected officials, businesses and students took a stand by wearing denim as a visible means of protest against the misconceptions that surround sexual violence.
Why denim? In Italy in the 1990’s, a young woman was raped by her driving instructor. The assailant was convicted and sentenced to jail, but on appeal the Italian Supreme Court dismissed all charges on the grounds that “because the victim wore very tight jeans, she had to help him remove them… and by removing the jeans… it was no longer rape but consensual sex.”
Women of the Italian Legislature protested the decision by wearing jeans to work. As news of the decision spread, so did the protest. In April 1999, a social service agency in Los Angeles established the first Denim Day in the United States.
Locally, Lassen Family Services asked community members to post pictures of themselves wearing denim accompanied by the hashtag #lfsdenimday
