April 29, 2020 – that is the day celebrated as National Denim Day. Hundreds of thousands of people today wear DenimDenim across the gone today. And this has a purpose. And the goal is not about showcasing Denim or promoting the Denim business. That is exactly what makes it one of the special events among the National Days of importance!
National Denim Day has a purpose. It is equivalent to showing your solidarity with the concept of protest against sexual violence and aggression. The day is all about supporting the survivors and educating yourself about all forms of sexual abuse.
Why Denim to protest against Rape and Sexual Violence?
Well, this has a piece of history behind it. You will need to understand the events that made it such a unique day that took place in 1998.
An 18 year old girl who wore a tight jeans was raped by her 45 year old driving instructor. He forced her one leg out of the jeans and raped here. The parents approached the judiciary, and the perpetrator was convicted and sentenced on rape count.
However, the convict appealed, and the case went all the way to the Italian Supreme Court. The case here was overturned, and the perpetrator was released. The judgment by the Chief judge stated that
This enraged the women all over the country who protested against the judgment by wearing jeans to work or elsewhere. Even the California Senate and Assembly followed suit. Thus wearing a jeans became a symbol of protesting against the erroneous views about sexual assault and rape.
Who started the National Denim Day?
The credits for officially starting the day rests with Peace Over Violence. It is a nonprofit organization in Los Angeles and is led by Patti Giggans. The very first National Denim Day in the US was held in 1999.
Since then, the day has become a national movement and has over two million participants taking part in it. What is the importance of the day, and how significant is it? In fact, sexual violence has been one such crime that goes unreported most of the time, even in the so-called developed countries.
It should be noticed that in the context of the US, one in every 5 American women have been reported to have been raped. The number in the case of American men is stated to be one in 71. Rape apart, there are other types of sexual violence, such as forced penetration, improper touch, groping, fondling, and sexual type of conversion. The number of people suffering this type of conversion attacks is estimated to be at one in 2 American women and one in 5 men.
So, be a part of the revolution and wear jeans to protest against the rape and other sexual attacks. Share your views and be a part of the protest against sexual violence.
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