Denim is More Than a Day or a Fabric
Content Warning: This article will be discussing sexual assault, particularly statistics and prevention. Please be mindful that it may be triggering for some people.
While April is Sexual Assault Prevention Month, it is important to learn and seek to prevent sexual assault every month, not just in April.
Just one person being assaulted is too many, but one every 68 seconds — that is heartbreaking. Sexual violence is any type of unwanted sexual contact. Although this is not an exhaustive list, sexual violence can range from rape, unwanted sexual contact, sexual exploitation and trafficking, nonconsensual image sharing, and sexual assault. Sexual assault, specifically, is any sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the victim.
“Every 68 seconds an American is sexually assaulted.” — RAINN
Sexual assault is a complex yet rampant issue around the world, not just in the United States. One aspect is consent, which must be freely given and fully informed. A person can change their mind at any time, and that change in consent must be respected. Sexual assault occurs when this consent is not respected by the perpetrator of the assault. Sexual violence and sexual assault are never the survivor’s fault but always the fault of the perpetrator. While most survivors of sexual assault are women, survivors can be of any age, race, gender, and level of ability. While this behavior has been at large for millennia, technology has caused the interconnectedness throughout the world that offers a means for important conversations to be had and for change to eventually occur.
The Origins of Denim Day
One such conversation is that of what Denim Day is and why it’s important. Denim Day is recognized internationally as a day devoted to the awareness of sexual assault and the barriers that survivors of sexual assault face following a 1998 Italian Supreme Court ruling.
As explained by denimday.org, an 18-year-old girl had been raped by her 45-year-old driving instructor during her first driving lesson. He had removed her jeans and forced himself on her. After reporting the rape, the man had been convicted of rape and sentenced to jail. The perpetrator then appealed the ruling to the Italian Supreme Court, claiming that it had been consensual. The Italian Supreme Court decided that it had been consensual sex rather than rape “because the victim was wearing very tight jeans, she had to help it remove them. By removing the jeans, it was not rape but consensual sex,” which would come to be known as the “jeans alibi” according to denimday.org.
The women of the Italian Parliament at the time had been outraged by this decision and decided to protest the decision by wearing jeans on the steps of the Italian Supreme Court. This inspired people around the world to wear denim in protest of sexual assault. This became an annual tradition known as Denim Day, where people around the world wear denim on the last Wednesday of April for the prevention and education of sexual violence.
Barriers Facing Survivors
As seen in the experience of the young Italian girl, survivors of sexual violence face an uphill battle personally as well as from society and institutions. The National Sexual Violence Resource Center shared that “rape is the most under-reported crime” in the US with only 37% of sexual assaults being reported to the police. Statistically, it is far less reported at 12% regarding the sexual abuse of children.
If they do report their assault, survivors are often met with disbelief or claims that it is a false report when the prevalence of false reporting is between 2% and 10%. It is also one of the most expensive crimes in the US since each rape costs approximately $151,423, placing an extreme financial burden on survivors.
“There is no excuse and never an invitation to rape.” — DenimDay.Org
Sexual assault can highly impact a survivor psychologically, emotionally, and physically. This can result in long-term mental health by developing conditions like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Anxiety, and Depression. Their experience may also impact how survivors see themselves and how they see the world. This may include developing eating disorders, hypersexuality, sleep disorders, suicide, self-harm, substance abuse, dissociation, and more.
Although most instances of sexual assault are not reported or convicted, it still affects survivors and the world around them. On a personal scale, sexual assault can impact survivors in every aspect of their life as well as the people surrounding a survivor. Most people have some tie to sexual violence, whether they know it or not. It also affects communities and society financially as well as on a fundamental level. When someone does experience sexual violence, the current lack of support, education, and available resources can further hurt survivors as they try to make sense of their experience. This is one reason why it is important to believe in and support survivors.
Recent Legal Changes in the United States
Because of these barriers, survivors of sexual assault often do not come forward; however, when they do, most perpetrators will not go to jail or prison. According to RAINN, for every 1000 sexual assaults, 975 perpetrators will walk free. This can be discouraging to survivors of sexual assault if they do decide to pursue legal courses of action.
Across the country, legislators and courts are being challenged to reconsider outdated rules and court precedents. In Mississippi, Representative Dana McLean is challenging her state legislature “to pass bills that streamline how rape kits are processed and remove archaic language from the state’s criminal rape law” like removing an exception for spousal rape. The Mississippi legislature passed House Bill 485 on April 17, 2023, with the hope that the modernization of their state law would allow state prosecutors to convict defendants of their true crimes rather than settling for lesser charges.
It can also take some time for survivors of sexual assault to process their traumatic experience and understand that they have been sexually assaulted. The statute of limitations or the maximum length of time after an event that a person can file a lawsuit is too short for some survivors of sexual assault and can be a barrier for those looking to sue the aggressor. Effective January 1, 2023, California’s Sexual Abuse and Cover-Up Accountability Act (AB2777) clarifies the California 10-year statute of limitations on sexual assaults to allow survivors an additional three years if the assault took place on or after January 1, 2009. It also protects against the power imbalance that can take place when authority figures like employers or corporations actively try to cover up or silence the survivor of sexual assault. The California legislature is hopeful that this will lessen barriers that time, processing their trauma, and being silenced may pose to survivors of sexual assault.
Prevention is an Every Day Job
Sexual assault is a preventable yet complex issue. There is no perfect and immediate fix, but the problem of sexual assault can be resolved. It will take collaboration and commitment from every person and institution in society to ensure that no one is ever the victim of sexual assault or sexual violence again.
This begins with the upbringing of future generations and the education of all people. It is important to instill respect for others, yourself, and the bodily autonomy of yourself and others. All people should be comprehensively educated on safe and healthy sexuality including what consent is and the necessity of respecting it. We must promote a change in our culture that protects against sexual violence as well as a change that encourages the empowerment of others. It is important to create a safe environment that believes in survivors and applies policies to protect against sexual violence. For many universities and organizations around the world, Denim Day is an opportunity to both stand in solidarity with survivors and work together to highlight the prevalence and barriers of sexual assault.
Resources
Here are some resources for more information and support:
RAINN (Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network)
NSVRC (National Sexual Violence Resource Center)
CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1 (800) 656–4673
Title IX (US Department of Education)
