**Trigger Warning**
The origin of Denim Day started back in Italy in 1992 when an 18-year-old girl was raped by her 45-year olf driving instructor. He was taking her out for her first driving lesson. He instructed her to go to an isolated road, pulled her out of the car, removed her jeans, and forcefully raped her.
The girl reported the rape and the perpetrator was arrested. Years later, he appealed the conviction and the perpetrator was released. A statement from the court argued that because the victim was wearing very tight jeans, she would have had to help him remove them, and by removing the jeans it was not rape but consensual sex.
After learning of this verdict, the women in the Italian Parliament launched a protest wearing denim jeans on the steps of the Supreme Court. This protest was picked up by international media which inspired other groups of women to do the same. The first Denim Day was held in April of 1999 and has continued annually ever since.
On this day we stand in solidarity and say there is #NOEXCUSE and never an invitation to rape. We stand with survivors and against the victim-blaming that surrounds rape. Stand with us by wearing denim today!
Spread awareness for this and make sure to use the hashtags #denimday & #noexcuse. Be sure to tag @damselindefense as well, so we can help to spread this message!
