Denim Day

In 1992, an 18-year-old girl came home after her first driving lesson. When she returned home, she told her parents, and later police, that her 45-year-old instructor drove her to an isolated area, forced her out of the vehicle, forcibly removed one leg of her jeans and raped her. Afterwards, he told her he would kill her if she told anyone.

He was charged with indecent exposure. 

The survivor appealed the sentence, and the instructor was then convicted on all charges.

In 1998, he appealed the Supreme Court of Cassation and had his conviction overturned. The decision indicated that the survivor’ jeans were very tight, so she must have removed them and was a willing participant in the rape. 

The “jeans alibi” was used to argue that her jeans were so tight that that the only way they could have been removed was if the survivor herself removed them, making the rape consensual.

The day after the conviction was overturned, there was widespread outrage and protest. Women of the Italian Parliament protested by wearing jeans and holding signs that read “Jeans: An Alibi for Rape”. As a sign of solidarity and support, the California State Legislature followed suit. Patti Giggans, Director of Peace Over Violence developed the Denim Day campaign after witnessing the activism surrounding the case.

Today, we continue to observe Denim Day as a way to stand in solidarity with survivors of sexual assault.