Denim Day Date in the current year: April 24, 2024

In Rome in 1992, an 18-year girl was raped by her 45-year-old driving instructor. The alleged rapist was convicted and sentenced, but the Italian Supreme Court overturned his conviction six years later because the victim was clad in tight jeans. The justices believed that she must have helped the rapist remove her jeans, thus making sex consensual.

The next day, the women who worked in the Italian Parliament came to work wearing jeans to express their solidarity with the victim. They protested by holding placards that read “Jeans: An Alibi for Rape”. The Supreme Court eventually overturned their findings.

A year later, Denim Day was made an annual event by Patricia Giggans who served as Executive Director of the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women (now Peace over Violence). The campaign is held on a Wednesday in April, typically near the end of the month. On this day, people wear jeans as a symbol of protest against misconceptions about sexual assault.