Denim Day set April 24 | News, Sports, Jobs - The Inter-Mountain

ELKINS — Women’s Aid in Crisis is your local sexual assault program. Women’s Aid in Crisis serves an average of 150 rape victims each year with a reasonable estimate of the number of victims who actually come forward to seek any kind of assistance being about 30 percent. With that estimate, approximately 450 people are victims of rape each year in our service area of Randolph, Tucker, Upshur, Barbour, Webster and Braxton County.

WAIC officials believe they must raise awareness of this issue to help victims feel safe coming forward. This year they are joining Peace Over Violence during its Denim Day campaign April 24 in honor of Sexual Violence Awareness Month.

A ruling in the Italian Supreme Court originally triggered the campaign, where a rape conviction was overturned because the justices felt that since the victim was wearing tight jeans she must have helped her rapist remove her jeans, thereby implying consent. The following day, the women in the Italian Parliament came to work wearing jeans in solidarity with the victim. Peace Over Violence developed the Denim Day campaign in response to this case and the activism surrounding it.

Since then, wearing jeans on Denim Day has become a symbol of protest against erroneous and destructive attitudes about sexual assault. In this rape prevention education campaign we ask community members, elected officials, businesses and students to make a social statement with their fashion by wearing jeans on this day as a visible means of protest against the misconceptions that surround sexual assault and consider making a donation to the local rape crisis center.

Questions can be directed to Tekoa Jones or Renee Yokum at 304-636-8433

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