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Denim is a firm, durable, twilled, and usually cotton fabric women with colored warp and white filling threads. It’s a fabric most of us are familiar with at this point. We wear it as skirts, jackets, and pants. But, for an Italian woman involved in a sexual violence case 18 years ago, that denim means so much more.
In 1992, the Italian Supreme Court overturned a rape conviction due to the female victim’s fashion choice of tight jeans. They felt that since the jeans were tight, she would have had to help the male attacker remove the jeans, making the act “consensual”. The following day, female members of the Italian Parliament arrived to work wearing jeans in solidarity. For the past 18 years, organization “Peace Over Violence” has run with that idea, creating a Wednesday within Sexual Violence Awareness Month as a rape prevention campaign. This year, Denim Day falls on April 26th. Community members, elected officials, businesses, and students participate by wearing jeans, and Mohave Community College is doing its part by encouraging its students to do the same.
Student Activities Council at the Lake Havasu City Campus is also raising awareness of sexual violence by working with H.A.V.E.N., a local Lake Havasu City organization that aids families and victims of abuse. Wear your denim for lunch and a presentation on Sexual Assault Prevention in the Hodel Library on Wednesday, April 26th at 12 pm.
“Make a social statement with your fashion statement. Wear jeans with a purpose on April 26, 2017.”
To learn more about Denim Day and how you can support victims of sexual violence, please visit denimdayinfo.org.
Adriana Petrungaro, MCC Student Blogger
Lake Havasu City Campus