Hope's Door April 2021 Newsletter

According to denimdayinfo.org, "The
Denim Day story begins in Italy in 1992,
when an 18-year old girl was raped by
the 45-year old driving instructor who
was taking her to her very first driving
lesson. He took her to an isolated road,
pulled her out of the car, removed her
jeans and forcefully raped her.
The girl reports the rape and the
perpetrator is arrested and prosecuted.
He is then convicted of rape and
sentenced to jail. Years later, he
appealed the conviction claiming that
they had consensual sex. The Italian
Supreme Court overturned the
conviction and the perpetrator was
released. A statement from the Court
argued that because the victim was
wearing very tight jeans, she must have
had to help him remove them, and by
removing the jeans, it established
consensual sex, not rape. This became
known throughout Italy as the “jeans
alibi.”
The following day, the women in the
Italian Parliament came to work
wearing jeans in solidarity with the
victim.
On April 29, Hope's Door staff will
be wearing denim to show
solidarity in the movement against
sexual assault.
In addition to wearing denim, join
Hope's Door in creating messages
of support to survivors on a virtual
pair of jeans!
Follow Hope's Door on Social Media
to participate:
You can print out the Hope's Door
Denim Day Virtual Jeans here or
find the blank template on
Instagram and create your
message with Gifs & stickers!
Make sure to snap a picture of
yourself wearing your denim and
tag @hopesdoorny in both your
personal photo and the virtual
jeans you create, so that we can
share!
Sexual violence
prevention means
addressing the root
causes of sexual
violence, like broad
cultural factors such
as beliefs about
gender equality and
multiple forms of
oppression such as
racism, transphobia,
and ableism, and
social systems that
reinforce power over
others.