Denim Day NYC 2013

Video created by: Christopher Lewis Dawkins, Nora Dwyer, Jamie Saltamachia, Quincy Martin-Chapman, Calixta Lee and Janay Nachel Frazier.

---

Stand with us on April 24 at 12:00 PM at the Denim Day NYC Rally and Press Conference on the steps of City Hall to recognize the contest winners and raise awareness about sexual violence. Bring your friends and wear your jeans!

The History of Denim Day

Denim Day grew out of a 1998 Italian Supreme Court decision that overturned a rape conviction because the victim wore tight jeans. The judges reasoned the victim’s tight jeans meant that she had to have helped her assailant remove them, implying consent. People all over the world were outraged, and wearing jeans became an international symbol of protest against erroneous and destructive attitudes and myths surrounding sexual assault.

Peace Over Violence, a nonprofit organization in Los Angeles, led by Patti Giggans, organized the country’s first Denim Day event in 1999. Under POV’s leadership, Denim Day LA & USA has grown into a national movement. In 2011, more than 2 million Americans participated in Denim Day.

A Public Health and Safety Issue That Affects All of Us

Sexual violence is difficult to discuss and often goes unmentioned. But 1 in 5 American women have been raped at some time in their lives — and 1 in 71 American men. Nearly 1 in 2 American women and 1 in 5 men have experienced other forms of sexual violence, including forced penetration, sexual coercion and unwanted sexual contact. And young people are at the highest risk: it is estimated that 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys have had an unwanted or abusive sexual experience in childhood. Learn more.