Denim Day Because Rape Victims CAN Wear Tight Jeans

**This post may contain affiliate links. All opinions expressed are my own. Disclosure Policy.**

Denim Day Because Rape Victims CAN Wear Tight Jeans

Denim Day is a campaign on a Wednesday in April in honor of Sexual Violence Awareness Month.   The campaign was originally triggered by a ruling by the Italian Supreme Court where a rape conviction was overturned because the justices felt that since the victim was wearing tight jeans she must have helped her rapist remove her jeans, thereby implying consent.

The following day, the women in the Italian Parliament came to work wearing jeans in support of the victim.  Peace Over Violence developed the Denim Day campaign in response to this case and the activism surrounding it.  Since then, wearing jeans on Denim Day has become a symbol of protest against erroneous and destructive attitudes about sexual assault.

In this rape prevention education campaign we ask community members, elected officials, businesses and students to make a social statement with their fashion by wearing jeans on this day as a visible means of protest against the misconceptions that surround sexual assault.  This year’s Denim Day will be held on April 23, 2014 and will focus on educating the community at large on the legal definition of consent.

Connect with the Denim Day movement on Facebook  Twitter  and YouTube

Why Denim Day USA?

Because…

  • Nearly 1 in 5 women in a national survey say they have been raped (CDCP)
  • 1 in 10 women have been raped by their boyfriend or husband (CDCP)
  • Half of female sexual assault victims were raped before age 18 (White House Report-Rape & Sexual Assault: A Renewed Call to Action)
  • Over 1/4 of male sexual assault survivors were raped before they were 10  (White House-Report Rape & Sexual Assault: A Renewed Call to Action)
  • 82% of rapes committed by an intimate are not reported to the police (RAINN/Dept. of Justice)
  • Only 3 out of every 100 rapists will ever spend a single day in prison (RAINN/Dept. of Justice)
  • The majority (54%) of rapes are still not reported (RAINN/Dept. of Justice)
  • Only about 1 out of 4 reported rapes leads to an arrest. Similarly, only about 1 out of 4 arrests leads to a felony conviction and incarceration (RAINN/Dept. of Justice)
  • 1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime (National Institute for Justice and  Centers for Disease Control & Prevention)
  • 17.7 million American women have been victims of attempted or completed rape (National Institute for Justice and  Centers for Disease Control & Prevention)
  • 15,000-19,000 people with developmental disabilities are raped each year in North America (National Center on Domestic & Sexual Violence)
  • 1 in 6 men have experienced abusive sexual experiences before the age of 18 (1in6.org)
  • 44% of sexual assault and rape victims are under the age of 18 (USDOJ)
  • Victims of sexual assault are 3 times more likely to suffer from depression, 6 times more likely to suffer from PTSD, 13 times more likely to abuse alcohol, 26 times more likely to abuse drugs, and 4 times more likely to contemplate suicide (WHO)
  • Almost 2/3 of rapes are committed by someone known to the victim (USDOJ)
  • 28% of male victims of rape experience their first rape when they were 10 years of age or younger (CDCP)
  • Approximately 80% of female victims experienced their first rape before the age of 25 (CDCP)
  • Every four hours a rape is reported in the United States Armed Forces (Military Rape Crisis Center)
  • Women in the US Military are more likely to be raped  by a fellow soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan than killed by enemy fire (Military Rape Crisis Center)

Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network (RAINN)

  • 800.656.HOPE (4673)

National Domestic Violence Hotline:

  • 800.799.SAFE (7233)
  • 800.787.3224 TDD

Sexual assault is never your fault.

Speak Your Mind

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.