Community & Other Events


Denim Day - April 23, 2009

Thank you for participating in Denim Day 2009!

ROME - ITALY, 1997 MORNING
A 17-year-old girl is picked up by her 56-year-old instructor for her very first driving lesson. An hour later --- raped and abandoned by him in alley....she has to make her way back home. Undeterred, she reports the incident and the case is prosecuted. The driving instructor is convicted of rape and sentenced to jail.

MONTHS LATER - 1998
The perpetrator appeals the sentence. The case makes it all the way to the Italian Supreme Court where the case against the driving instructor is overturned and the perpetrator is released.

WHY DENIM?
In a statement released by the Head Judge, he argued, “because the victim wore very, very tight jeans, she had to help him remove them....and by removing the jeans...it was no longer rape but consensual sex.” Enraged by the verdict, the Women in the Italian Parliament launched into immediate action and protested by wearing on the steps of the Italian Parliament building. This call to action motivated and emboldened the California Senate and Assembly to do the same and a movement was born.

Join Moving to End Sexual Assault (MESA) and participate in Denim Day.  You can participate by:

• Wearing denim on April 23, 2009.
• Tell your friends and family to wear jeans
• Let us know you are wearing jeans, so we can announce the tally
• Spread the word about Denim Day 
  
• Donate to Dollars for Denim

• Make it possible for more survivors of sexual assault to reach out and find help.
• Promote prevention through education so that sexual violence doesn’t occur in the first place.
• Encourage men and boys to understand that strength is not for hurting, and the critical role they play in preventing violence against women.
• Encourage institutional and societal change.