In 1992, an Italian woman pressed charges against her driving instructor for sexual assault, for which he was convicted and sentenced. In 1998, the Italian Supreme Court overturned the decision following an appeal on the basis that, since the victim was wearing tight jeans, she must have helped the driving instructor take them off, thus providing consent. As a point of information, consent is defined by as a freely given and continuous “yes.” The following day, women of Italian Parliament protested this ruling by wearing denim to work. This sparked a worldwide movement, and Denim Day is now an annually celebrated day in April in honor of Sexual Violence Awareness Month. Developed by Peace Over Violence, Denim Day is a day in which individuals wear denim to “protest erroneous and destructive attitudes about sexual assault” and show support for victims.
This year on April 4, RUPA, Rutgers NO MORE, and SCREAM Theater co-sponsored a denim-themed fashion show in which a diverse group of advocates, allies, and survivors on campus rocked denim outfits down the catwalk to showed their support and share their story. Members of Verbal Mayhem performed pieces of spoken word poetry that discussed topics of domestic violence, rape culture, gender norms, and more, effectively engaging and elevating the audience members in discussing these difficult topics. Shockwave, an all-female acapella group performed a beautiful set of empowering pieces that moved the audience. All in all, the whole event was extremely inspiring and showed a collective determination to end the violence and the stigmas surrounding it. I look forward to seeing this event grow, as it is student-run events like these that will, in the end, be the most effective in changing campus culture.
Check out the event here.