UI Women’s Center observes annual sexual assault awareness day
Virginia Solan, coordinator of violence prevention programs at the University of Idaho, said Denim Day serves as a means of prompting discussions about the root causes of sexual assault.
“Denim Day gets people talking about the roots of sexual assault — the fact that rape is not about sex, but rather power and control,” Solan said. “Everyone wants to ignore these roots, but change can’t happen if we don’t start really talking about how pervasive victim blaming is in our society.”
Yishan Chen | Argonaut
Mimi Price (left) and Katie Estey watch as Zoe Marko signs a pair of jeans while they table to raise awareness of Denim Day Wednesday in the Commons.
UI participated in the globally recognized awareness day last Wednesday in the Idaho Commons where students, staff and faculty members wore and signed denim to bring awareness to sexual assault.
Women’s Center Office Manager Christina Valazquez said Denim Day began in 1978 as a protest against an Italian court ruling in which a perpetrator of sexual assault escaped a jail sentence because of the victim’s clothing.
“A young lady in Italy was taking driver’s education classes when her instructor raped her and left her in an alley,” Valazquez said. “She went to the police and they charged him, but when the case went to court, he got away clean because the courts claimed the victim’s jeans were too tight.”
Valazquez said the courts decided her attacker couldn’t have taken off her jeans without her assistance because they were so tight, and by her helping him remove them it made the act consensual.
She said women in the Italian parliament protested the day following the ruling by wearing jeans, and their protest became an annual event aimed at bringing awareness to the prevalence of sexual assault worldwide.
“Women all over the world wear denim on this Wednesday in April now to show support for survivors and victims of sexual assault,” Valazquez said. “It’s important to know that sexual assault is real, that it happens all over the globe and that it can happen to anyone.”
Solan said although the court ruling happened years ago, Denim Day is still an important event because of how relevant the story is today.
“It would be nice if we could look back at that court case and say ‘Wow, isn’t it hard to believe something like that once happened?’ But Denim Day is still going strong, because that’s not the case,” Solan said.
Solan said the conversations she and the Women’s Center hope to start through Denim Day will encourage others to question the ways they have been taught to think about sexual assault.
“People try to simplify sexual assault by blaming the victim for what they were wearing instead of focusing on the fact that someone made the choice to take advantage of another person in a vulnerable situation,” Solan said. “It’s important to ask ourselves why we, as a society, focus more on the victim’s actions than the perpetrator’s.”
Solan said Denim Day and the remembrance of the case is crucial, because not only does the court case serve as a tangible example of victim blaming, but it also prompts a conversation about the root causes of sexual assault.
Solan said although the event only happens once a year, its impact and the conversations it begins will help shape the way society regards sexual assault now and beyond.
“We need to say ‘Hey, let’s talk about how insane this is and not just for women, but for men too,'” Solan said. “We cannot hope for change until people start talking about what sexual assault is really about … Through starting these conversations, we can help prevent assault and also help victims heal.”
Corrin Bond can be reached at [email protected]