Join Fort Bend County Women’s Center for Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month by participating in Denim Day 2011 on April 27. By wearing a pair of jeans, a denim shirt or jacket, participants can help raise awareness of sexual assault in the Fort Bend community.
Rosenberg’s Southern Sister Designs’ Champagne & Cupcakes Birthday Bash has a display urging customers to participate in Denim Day.
Denim Day began in the mid-90’s when a teenage girl in Italy was picked up by her 45-year-old old driving instructor for her first lesson. He took her to an isolated location, pulled her out of the car and forcefully raped her. Despite threats that she would be killed if she told anyone, the girl reported the incident, and the case was prosecuted. The driving instructor was convicted of rape and sentenced to jail.
Months later, the perpetrator appealed the sentence, and the case made it all the way to the Italian Supreme Court. The case against the driving instructor was overturned, and the perpetrator was released.
In a statement released by the Head Judge, he stated, “because the victim wore very, very tight jeans, she had to help him remove them, and by removing the jeans, it was no longer rape but consensual sex.”
Outraged by the verdict, the women in the Italian Parliament began what started out as a protest against the court case by wearing jeans to work. It began an annual international demonstration known as Denim Day. The wearing of jeans became an international symbol of protest against erroneous and destructive attitudes about sexual assault.
In 2010, the Fort Bend County Women’s Center served 222 sexual assault victims. Only 98 rapes were reported in Fort Bend County in 2009. Many women do not report their victimization for a variety of reasons, including fear.
On April 30, visitors who being a donation for the Women’s Center will get $2 off admission to the Museum of Natural Science at Sugar Land.
Fort Bend County residents can also drop off gently used clothes, shoes, furniture and household items at any of the Women’s Center’s three Pennywise Resale Centers. The Women’s Center will pick up large items.
For more information, visit the Fort Bend County Women’s Center website, www.fortbendwomenscenter.org .
