by James Matheson
The University of Maryland joined millions worldwide in supporting sexual assault survivors and protesting victim-blaming during Denim Day on Wednesday.
The event was hosted by the CARE to Stop Violence Office in the late April sunshine in front of Tawes Plaza during the weekly Farmer’s Market as well as the Stamp Student Union from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The CARE to Stop Violence Office addressed students from its table and encouraged passersby’s to sign pairs of lightwashed skinny jeans in solidarity with sexual assault victims, a reference to a sexual assault in Italy that sparked denim day.
“We really have just come together to show support and solidarity for survivors on campus and ensure that they feel supported, believed, have access to resources and know that their community, their friends, their family, and our campus is behind them and supports their healing journey,” said Charlotte Sheffield, the assistant coordinator of the CARE to stop Violence Office.
Denim Day began in 1999 in protest against an Italian Supreme Court ruling that an18-year-old woman consented to sex by wearing tight jeans.The court reasoned that she must have helped the man who raped her because he couldn’t have removed her skinny jeans without her. Her 45-year-old driving instructor had appealed a lower court’s ruling that found him guilty of rape seven years before to the Supreme Court.
“Because the victim wore very, very tight jeans, she would have had to help him remove them, and by removing the jeans it was no longer rape but consensual sex,” said the chief judge in a statement.
Women in the Italian Parliament protested by wearing jeans on the steps of the Supreme Court the next day. After their protest, Peace Over Violence Executive Director Patti Occhiuzzo Giggans began Denim Day in Los Angeles to protest the myths surrounding sexual assault, according to denimday.org.
“As the longest running sexual violence prevention and education campaign in history, Denim Day asks community members, elected officials, businesses and students to make a social statement with their fashion statement by wearing jeans on this day as a visible means of protest against the misconceptions that surround sexual violence,” reads a statement on the Denim Day website.
This university is joining in that campaign of support as it closes Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Having these events at the end of the spring semester is provides vital space for victims as the sexual assault red zone approaches next semester Sheffield said.
The red zone occurs between the start of the fall semester and Thanksgiving Break, when up to half of all college sexual assaults take place, according to this university’s Student Government Association. Many students feel uncomfortable in a new environment and have limited support available during that period.
“I think having this conversation and talking about this issue out loud and being open about support for survivors can be really important as a campus,” Sheffield said. “And so I think bringing awareness and then also creating a space where people feel like they can share and they won’t be judged, they won’t be minimized, they won’t be disbelieved, is so important for people in taking that first step to disclose.”
Featured image: Students gather at CARE To Stop Violence’s Table, Wednesday, April 26, 2023. Photo by James Matheson.