04/18/2019
Thursday April 24th is ASU Denim Day. Denim Day is a national event to raise awareness about sexual violence. The content to follow is sensitive in nature and may be triggering. Please visit sexualviolenceprevention.asu.edu should you wish to connect with University or community resources.
Italy, 1990s~
An 18-year old girl is picked up by her married 45-year old driving instructor for her very first lesson. He takes her to an isolated road, pulls her out of the car, wrestles her out of one leg of her jeans and forcefully r**es her. Threatened with death if she tells anyone, he makes her drive the car home. Later that night she tells her parents, and they help and support her to press charges. The perpetrator gets arrested and is prosecuted. He is convicted of r**e and sentenced to jail.
He appeals the sentence. The case makes it’s all the way to the Italian Supreme Court. Within a matter of days the case against the driving instructor is overturned, dismissed, and the perpetrator released. In a statement by the Chief Judge, he argued, “because the victim wore very, very tight jeans, she had to help him remove them, and by removing the jeans it was no longer r**e but consensual sex.”
Enraged by the verdict, within a matter of hours the women in the Italian Parliament launched into immediate action and protested by wearing jeans to work. Wearing jeans has been a statement of protest every year since. (denimday.org)
https://wellness.asu.edu/get-involved/wellness-events/asu-denim-day
ASU Denim DayApril 24, 2019Denim Day is a national event to raise awareness about sexual violence. The content to follow is sensitive in nature and may be triggering. Please visit sexualviolenceprevention.asu.edu should you wish to connect with University or community resources.