River Community Azusa celebrated Denim Day recently to raise awareness and show support for sexual assault survivors. All staff and residents wore denim and had an educational art group activity where residents were enlightened about the history of Denim Day along with some exercises for self-respect, boundaries, and rights. They created some banners, wrote messages, and hanged them in the garden.
It was an uplifting and powerful group event that allowed some processing and healing for some of our residents who have been victims of sexual trauma.
For more than two decades, Social Model Recovery Systems has been celebrating Denim Day in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
Celebrated every year on the last Wednesday of April, Denim Day started as a campaign against sexual assault apologists. It started when an 18-year-old girl was raped by her 45-year-old driving instructor. One year later, the perpetrator was released after the court overturned his sentence. He appealed that the girl had had ‘consensual’ sex with him because she was wearing tight jeans that could have only been taken off with her help. The next day, Italian women showed up in jeans to their workplaces to protest the absurdity of the overturned sentence.
Since then, wearing jeans on Denim Day has become a symbol of protest against erroneous and destructive attitudes.
