Throw On Your Blue Jeans! What Denim Day Is And What You Can Do To Participate

In honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, April 29th is Denim Day. According to nomore.org:

“For the past 15 years, Peace Over Violence has run the Denim Day in L.A. and USA campaign on a Wednesday in April in honor of Sexual Violence Awareness Month. The campaign was originally triggered by 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 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 we ask community members, elected officials, businesses 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 on April 29, 2015.”

In order to combat a culture in which survivors of rape and sexual assault face victim-blaming and rape apologists, campaigns such as Denim Day serve to raise awareness and turn a spotlight on ways that we can all fight to end rape culture both in the United States and globally.

Here are just a few suggestions on how you can participate in Denim Day 2015:

1. Organize an opportunity for staff at your workplace to make a small contribution for the opportunity to wear blue jeans at work. Some employers ask for anywhere from $1-$5 from each employee who wishes to participate. Funds collected can be donated?to organizations supporting this campaign, such as Peace Over Violence?or your local rape crisis center.

2. Like the official Denim Day Facebook page to connect with others who are saying “No More!” to excuses, cover-ups, victim-blaming, and all forms of intimate partner violence.

3. Look for Denim Day 2015 events in your area that may be hosted by rape crisis and domestic violence centers.

4. Get a group together to attend a screening of “The Hunting Ground,” a powerful new documentary by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering, which focuses on the epidemic of rape and sexual assault on college campuses.?Activists and interviewers for the film, Annie E. Clark and Andrea Pino, recently sat for an interview with Bill Maher, which you can see here:


Click to find screenings in your area, check your local listings, and see the trailer for the documentary below:


5. Refuse to be silent! Let your friends on Facebook and followers on Twitter know how you plan to say “No More!” to rape and sexual assault.