April 24th is Denim Day, which is an annual campaign during Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Since 1999, Peace Over Violence has dedicated the last Wednesday in April to wearing denim to “practice solidarity and support survivors by renewing our commitment to exposing harmful behaviors and attitudes surrounding sexual violence.”
The origins of Denim Day stem from a 1992 Italian court case. An 18-year-old girl came forward after being sexually assaulted during her first driving lesson her 45-year-old instructor removed her jeans and assaulted her on the side of a road. Years after the instructor was convicted, the Italian Supreme Court overturned his conviction by deciding the teen had to have helped the instructor remove her tight jeans and, therefore, ruled the actions consensual.
After the conviction was overturned, women in the Italian Parliament protested by wearing jeans on the Supreme Court steps, inspiring people in other countries to do the same. Seeing similar actions in California, Peace Over Violence started the first Denim Day in LA in April 1999. Even though the country does not recognize Denim Day officially, around 20 states do, according to Maria Douglas, Middle Way House’s Development Director.
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Douglas said that when people ask about all the denim, it helps amplify the voices of survivors.
“You can talk to people and say, ‘hey, you know, this is why I'm wearing denim’ or if your friends or even professors are like, ‘what's with the denim on denim?’” Douglas said. “And you can explain that.”
People are encouraged to post their denim looks to the hashtag #saamdenimday24.
