Throwback Thursday: Denim Day 2011

Students from the Relationship Abuse Prevention Program participated in Denim Day 2011. Denim Day, which is observed annually on a Wednesday in April, was inspired by an Italian Supreme Court ruling that overturned a rape conviction based on the fact that the rape victim was wearing tight jeans. The justices felt that the victim must have helped her rapist remove the jeans, thereby implying consent. The day after this ruling, women in the Italian Parliament came to work clad in jeans in solidarity with the victim. Ever since, wearing jeans on Denim Day has become a visual symbol of protest against destructive misconceptions around sexual assault.

See more photos of Denim Day 2011 (and other annual Denim Days) on our Facebook page.