Since 2013, on the last Wednesday in April, Coloradans have opted to wear jeans in recognition of a worldwide movement called Denim Day.
In exchange for wearing jeans on this day, participants are asked to donate $5 to the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault to support their work in preventing sexual violence.
You may be wondering – why jeans?
It all dates back to 1999, when Italian women protested a Supreme Court verdict by wearing jeans.
Years prior, a 45-year-old driving instructor was accused – and eventually convicted – of brutally raping a young woman during a driving lesson, according to Colorado Denim Day’s website.
“He took her to an isolated road, pulled her from the vehicle and forcefully sexually assaulted her,” said Sylvia Liska, a victim witness specialist at the 22nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office, who participates in the movement.
After 34 months in prison, he appealed the sentence, and it went all the way to the Italian Supreme Court, where the “Chief Judge released a statement arguing that because the victim wore tight jeans, he assumed that she must have helped her perpetrator remove her jeans and, therefore, consented,” the Denim Days website reads.
And that’s when and why women protested by wearing jeans.
The 22nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office started participating around 2013, the same year the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault started, too, said Clarisa Osborn, the DA’s office manager.
“It’s important to continue to raise awareness and dispel myths around rape culture and victim blaming,” Osborn said. “It’s important to continue educating the community.”
Especially jurors in trial cases, Osborn said, “to help them understand that sexual assault isn’t just a dispute behind closed doors.”
Liska underscored how “it’s incredible it’s come all the way out here,” and how the office hopes they’re raising awareness this final Wednesday in April.
