25 YEARS OF IMPACT

Dear Denim Day Community,

It was 1999 and a news story out of Italy caught my eye on CNN. It told the story of Italian Female Parliamentarians wearing jeans to protest the Supreme Court Justice’s overturning a lower court’s rape conviction. The reason he gave was because the 18 year old girl was wearing tight jeans and they could not be removed without her help, implying consent. The Roman Parliamentarians were furious; they called it “the jeans alibi.” California lawmakers took action and wore jeans on the steps of the CA State Capitol in Sacramento in solidarity with the Roman legislators. That is what inspired me and our staff to organize the first Denim Day in Los Angeles.

Denim Day 1999 was a small rally in a downtown Los Angeles park. We invited people to show up wearing jeans to protest the myths that the clothing you wear invites rape and sexual assault, one of the many misconceptions and lies told about women and girls and used as an excuse to blame them. This was in April, Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and on a Wednesday specifically - so that people would wear jeans to work as a dress down day during the middle of the week. In those days there were dress codes! For us, wearing jeans on purpose on Denim Day was making a social statement with our fashion statement. At that time, we couldn’t imagine it would grow into this culturally relevant and longest running sexual violence prevention education campaign in history with impacts across the globe reaching millions each year.

We started with the message and tagline: There is No Excuse And Never An Invitation to Rape, inspired by Charles Hall’s This is Not An Invitation To Rape Me campaign. This message has remained a constant in our campaign and it is still relevant and necessary to our work.

Over the last 25 years, Denim Day has reached over one hundred million individuals. People in all 50 states and in over 100 countries have worn jeans on purpose. Colleges and universities, corporations and businesses, communities and groups, entire cities and states have declared Denim Day.

This campaign along with other movement organizing has empowered victim/survivors, created allies, influenced legislation, educated the jury pool, motivated high school and college students, and gave voice to those who had been silenced. Our goal has been to encourage people to wear jeans with purpose, support survivors, educate yourself and others, and challenge rape culture and mysogynistic victim blaming.

Changes have been made over the last 25 years. All of us together have influenced the rise of legal reform and legislative action to increase services and protection for survivors. We have exposed rape kit backlogs and cleared or reduced backlogs all over the country. Increased technology has helped survivors share their stories, seek services, and report crimes if they choose. Denim Day has created space for more conversations about sexual violence. We have seen the rise of #metoo, the upheaval in the entertainment and industry and sports including the Olympics, etc. The court victories of E. Jean Carroll would not have been possible without these movements and efforts including Denim Day for survivors' truths to be told and to be believed. We experience more and more youth having conversations about building healthy relationships, setting boundaries, and prioritizing consent. Increased awareness has exposed the depth and breadth of sexual violence in our country and around the world. Rape is acknowledged as a weapon of war. Rape and intimate partner violence can impact everyone in every community. With better data, we now know communities of color, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, migrants, incarcerated persons are disproportionately impacted and vulnerable. Unfortunately, our work is not done.

Without your participation in Denim Day, we would not have had the impact on society that we have brought about together. The campaign has grown with you and you have grown the campaign - together we have questioned, confronted and changed culture. We have shifted the way people think about sexual violence, the most hidden trauma and crime. We have challenged behaviors that contribute to rape culture. We have educated and advocated and spread awareness about all forms of violence - and have worked toward the prevention of violence in the first place. 

Sexual violence and domestic violence are endemic in our world. The trauma from these issues is foundational and a root cause to so many social harms - like homelessness, gun violence, mass shootings, mental illness, substance abuse, and more. To truly end sexual violence, we must connect the dots with other violences and social harms and recognize the urgency of this intersectionality. Denim Day is a vibrant opportunity to focus on including ALL survivors, their families and communities, and support the growing efforts for equity, justice, and a safer world.

This year our overarching theme for the campaign is: sexual violence ends with all of us. We have made progress as we have brought these issues out of the shadows and the stories of trauma and healing and resiliency are finally being heard. We still have so far yet to go. We must continue to work together and support each other. Thank you for all of your efforts across the globe to educate and organize your groups and constituencies, indeed your own families. Sexual violence will end through the efforts of all of us.

Patricia Giggans
Denim Day Founder & Executive Director of Peace Over Violence

If you are in need of help, the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) hotline can direct you to a live crisis counselor, (1-800-656-4673).

For local resources in Los Angeles, CA, contact our LA Rape & Battering Hotline at Central Los Angeles, 213-626-3393; South Los Angeles, 310-392-8381; West San Gabriel Valley, 626-793-3385.