YWCA urges jeans wearing on Denim Day

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For the past 18 years, Peace Over Violence has run the Denim Day (denimdayinfo.org) campaign on a Wednesday in April during Sexual Violence Awareness Month.

The campaign was originally triggered by a ruling by the Italian Supreme Court that overturned a rape conviction 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 solidarity with 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, the YWCA of Van Wert County asks community members, elected officials, business people, 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 Wednesday, April 26.

The YWCA is asking community members, local agencies, businesses, and organizations to set aside this day to allow staff to wear jeans to bring awareness to sexual assault issues within the community. For more information or to receive Denim Day stickers for staff members, contact Jody Wannemacher, YWCA outreach coordinator, at 419.238.6639, extension 109.

The YWCA is a United Way and Van Wert County Foundation funded agency.