KTLA Highlights Denim Day in LA

In Italy in the 1990s, an 18-year old girl was raped by her married 45-year-old driving instructor. With the help and support of her parents, she pressed charges, and the perpetrator was arrested, prosecuted, convicted of rape, and sentenced to jail.

He appeals the sentence. The case made it all the way to the Italian Supreme Court, where it was overturned. 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 rape but consensual sex."

The women in the Italian Parliament were enraged by the verdict and launched into immediate action. They protested by wearing jeans to work. This call to action motivated and emboldened the California Senate and Assembly to do the same, which in turn spread to Patricia Giggans, Executive Director of Peace Over Violence, and Denim Day in LA was born. The first Denim Day in LA was in April 1999, and has continued every year since.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• denim day
• ktla
• los angeles
• peace over violence
• peaceoverviolnce
• patti giggans
• denim day in la
• denim day in usa
• rape
• sexual assault
• violence against women