Denim Day is a campaign that takes place on the last Wednesday in April in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. To provide a little backstory, Denim Day began after a ruling by the Italian Supreme Court where a rape conviction was overturned because the justices felt that since the victim was wearing tight jeans she must have helped the person who raped her 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.

The social workers at the La Casa MHRC program in Long Beach, CA, participated in this year’s Denim Day event on Wednesday, April 28.

They all wore denim for solidarity and to support the survivors of sexual assault. They learned facts and stats about sexual assaults, wrote encouraging messages to sexual assault survivors on a wall poster, and spent some time having open conversations. They also gave out Denim Day buttons for staff to wear and raffled off prizes for participants.

It was a great way to bring people together and elevate the awareness of sexual assault. They received much positive feedback from staff.