Denim Day 2023: A Day to Remember!
Thank you
Thank you so much to our speakers, performers, participants, sponsors and supporters who made this Denim Day a powerful experience to spread awareness around sexual violence prevention education and commit to being allies and upstanders in this work! With your participation and support, we were able to reach millions of individuals all over the world, increasing our reach and impact. In our 24th year, the campaign continues to spread messages of violence prevention and activism, and to educate on issues surrounding all forms of sexual violence. We could not have done it without your support!
This year, we shared messages around our themes: Let’s protect each other. Be an ally. Be an upstander. We urged supporters to uphold these themes by cultivating and practicing qualities and characteristics to allow people to stand up for themselves, set boundaries and find a safe way to intervene or interrupt a situation, and to listen, speak up and support the dismantling of rape culture. We are so inspired by all of the testimonies, stories, photos and reports of Denim Days all over the world. Denim Day is a movement that continues to grow and gain momentum.
Together we are working toward a world without violence.
2023 Highlights
Press Conference & Rally at LA City Hall
Denim Day 2023 kicked off with a press conference and rally at Los Angeles City Hall, hosted by Los Angeles City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez. The event was a huge success and attended by hundreds of local supporters, leaders, survivors, and community members who gathered in solidarity in the city where Denim Day was born 24 years ago.
Participants included:
Patti Giggans, Denim Day Founder and CEO/Executive Director, POV
Monica Rodriguez, LA City Councilmember D7
Eunisses Hernandez, LA City Councilmember CD1
Nithya Raman, LA City Councilmember D4
Katy Yaroslavsky, LA City Councilmember D5
Heather Hutt, LA City Councilmember D10
Lorinda Hawkins-Smith, survivor, advocate and performer joined by Justice Drummers
Antonio Villaraigosa, 41st Mayor of the City of Los Angeles, Co-Chairman and Partner at Actum, LLC & POV Advisory Board Member
Brian K. Williams, Deputy Mayor of LA Public Safety on behalf of LA Mayor Karen Bass
Juan Carlos Rodriguez Muñoz, El Consulado General de México en Los Ángeles (the Mexican Consulate of LA)
Maya Henry, high school student and Youth Over Violence youth leader
Eleni Kounalakis, California Lt. Governor
The event also featured denim healing arts activities by our partner HaGomel, coffee by Cafe Santo, pastries by Homeboy Industries, photobooth by Shutterbox, POV's coloring pages, merch and more! Thank you to all who attended making this in person event a huge success.
ICYMI you can see the full video from the rally here.
Denim Day Around the US & the World
We are always so inspired to see Denim Days happening locally and all over the world. There were Denim Days in Italy, Montreal, Canada, Colombia, the United Kingdom, Brisbane in Australia, Singapore, the Netherlands, and the Diego Garcia Island in the Indian Ocean. From college campus activations, to military bases, to corporate events, and individuals sharing online, the power of the movement connects us all. Denim Day California was celebrated in Sacramento with the First Partner and our partners ValorUS. And, we continued our bi-coastal partnership with Denim Day New York City which hosted Denim Day across all five boroughs, and were happy to connect pre-Denim Day with an Instagram Live promoting the campaign and activities for people to get involved. We participated in tabling events all over Los Angeles spreading awareness. So many survivors shared their stories with us and with others, joining in solidarity and empowerment. Thank you to everyone who sent us pictures, shared testimonials, tagged us on social…this campaign thrives with and because of you!
The Denim Day Pledge
This year, thousands of individuals from across the globe took the pledge representing hundreds of thousands of participants. Thank you to those who participated and took the pledge, and shared responses to the question: why will you wear denim?
It’s not too late to take the pledge! Denim Day messages are year round strong. Take the pledge now and save the date for Denim Day 2024 - Wednesday, April 24th!
Denim Day in the News!
Our Denim Day event received news coverage from a variety of outlets. Here are some highlights:
KTLA
Denim Day on Social Media
This year, we saw incredible reach on social media! The campaign really took off with the support of influencers and followers sharing Denim Day messages across the world. We were so inspired to see content created that shared the history of the campaign and messages surrounding sexual violence education and consent. We really felt the power of the online community and reached tens of millions of accounts throughout April.
Check out a few of our favorite videos below and search #denimday for more inspiration!
@concealed.witch created a video on TikTok about Denim Day that received 132,000 likes!
Thank you to @riatirre for creating this video about the history of Denim Day that received nearly 40,000 views on Instagram!
Watch it, like it, share it!
High-fashion denim!
The Denim Couture Collection by @beautyforfreedom designed by @geremydubensky was reposted by @feminist and received nearly 20,000 likes!
Fundraising
We are so grateful to all of the donors for Denim Day 2023! Financial contributions help ensure that we can continue to provide access to services for sexual assault survivors, including our 24-hour hotline, free counseling and healing services, legal and support groups, and youth violence prevention and engagement. Donations also help underwrite the costs of producing and distributing educational materials.
Denim Day Swag
Denim Day materials have always played a large role in our campaign, from a virtual action kit with downloadable materials to a variety of buttons, T-shirts, etc. We loved seeing supporters gear up for Denim Day! This year, we added some new products with the messaging of the campaign and it was a huge hit, with many of our items selling out! But don’t worry - we are currently restocking and many Denim Day materials are still available in our store. As we know, the messages of the campaign and all of our materials are relevant and fashionable all year round! Check out what is currently available here!
Denim Day would not be possible without the support of our sponsors:
