Spread the Word
Denim Day at its core is an awareness campaign. So, let's share the story of Denim Day and the message: THERE IS NO EXCUSE AND NEVER AN INVITATION TO RAPE.
The below images, text, photos, and flyers are all yours to use to share on social media, at your school, workplace, church, community center, coffee shop bulletin board — wherever you can get the message out!
Encourage your workplace or school to allow everyone to wear jeans Wednesday for a small donation to Partners Against Violence! Flyers available to post below.
Be sure to tag us @partnersagainstviolence and @peaceovrviolnce
FACTS & STATISTICS
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In the US, over half of women and almost 1 in 3 men have experienced sexual violence involving physical contact during their lifetime #denimday
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More than 4 in 5 female rape survivors reported that they were first raped before age 25 and almost half were first raped as a minor #denimday
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Women and racial and ethnic minority groups experience a higher burden of sexual violence #denimday
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63% of sexual assaults are never reported to the police #denimday
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1 in 6 men experience abusive sexual experiences before the age of 18 #denimday
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Almost two-thirds of rapes are committed by someone the victim knows #denimday
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44% of sexual assault and rape victims are under the age of 18 #denimday
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Women who have been raped in the military have a higher rate of PTSD than men who’ve been in combat #denimday
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Around the world, 1 in 3 women will be raped or beaten in her lifetime #denimday
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Recent estimates put the lifetime cost of rape at $122,461 per survivor, including medical costs, lost productivity, criminal justice activities, and other costs #denimday
#DENIMDAY AWARENESS
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Wednesday, April 26th is #denimday. Join me in taking action to support this sexual violence prevention and educational campaign. Denimday.org
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I am an ally. Be an ally. Join the movement to end violence. #denimday denimday.org
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Be an upstander. Join the movement to end violence. #denimday denimday.org
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Let’s protect each other! Join the movement to end violence. #denimday denimday.org
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There is no excuse and never an invitation to rape. Stand with sexual assault survivors on April 26 #denimday denimdayinfo.org
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There is NO excuse and NEVER an invitation to harass, abuse or assault, rape. Stand with survivors. Wear jeans with a purpose on April 26th #denimday denimdayinfo.org
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I pledge to support survivors of sexual abuse and assault on #denimday denimdayinfo.org
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Make a social statement with your fashion statement. Support survivors of sexual assault on 4.27.22 #denimday
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Support sexual assault survivors. Take the pledge to wear jeans with a purpose on April 26th denimdayinfo.org/pledge #denimday
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Wear jeans. Support survivors. Educate others. April 26th is #denimday
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Take the #denimday pledge: denimday.org/pledge
Italy, 1990s
The Denim Day story begins in Italy in 1992, when an 18-year old girl was raped by the 45-year old driving instructor who was taking her to her very first driving lesson. He took her to an isolated road, pulled her out of the car, removed her jeans and forcefully raped her.
She reports the rape and the perpetrator is arrested and prosecuted. He is then convicted of rape and sentenced to jail. Years later, he appealed the conviction claiming that they had consensual sex. The Italian Supreme Court overturned the conviction and the perpetrator was released. A statement from the Court argued that because the victim was wearing very tight jeans, she had to help him remove them, and by removing the jeans it was not rape but consensual sex. This became known throughout Italy as the “jeans alibi.”
Enraged by the verdict, the women in the Italian Parliament launched a protest wearing jeans on the steps of the Supreme Court. This protest was picked up by international media which inspired the California Senate and Assembly to do the same on the steps of the Capitol in Sacramento. Patti Occhiuzzo Giggans, Executive Director of Peace Over Violence, saw this in the media and thought everyone should be wearing jeans to protest all of the myths about why women and girls are raped. Denim Day in LA was born. The first Denim Day in LA event was held in April of 1999, and has continued annually since.
For more information on the case, visit The New York Times’ coverage.
Since 1999, Peace Over Violence has run an inspiring and powerful opportunity to practice solidarity and support survivors by renewing our commitment to exposing harmful behaviors and attitudes surrounding sexual violence. Denim Day is a campaign on a Wednesday in April in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The campaign began after 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 the person who raped her remove her jeans, thereby implying consent. The following day, the women in the Italian Parliament came to work wearing jeans in solidarity with the victim. Peace Over Violence developed the Denim Day campaign in response to this case and the activism surrounding it. Since then, what started as a local campaign to bring awareness to victim blaming and destructive myths that surround sexual violence has grown into a movement. As the longest running sexual violence prevention and education campaign in history, Denim Day asks community members, elected officials, businesses and students to make a social statement with their fashion statement by wearing jeans on this day as a visible means of protest against the misconceptions that surround sexual violence.