Millions of people around the world Wednesday will be recognizing the 20th annual Denim Day campaign to combat sexual violence, with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Denim Day founder Patti Giggans expected to lead a rally and news conference at City Hall.
L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and L.A. City Councilwoman Nury Martinez are also expected to take part in the rally.
Peace Over Violence championed Denim Day in Los Angeles in 1999 as part of an international protest following the Italian Supreme Court’s decision to overturn a rape conviction. The 18-year-old victim wore tight jeans when she was raped by her driving instructor in 1992 during her first driving lesson.
The Chief judge argued that “because the victim wore very, very tight jeans, she had to help him remove them, and by removing the jeans it was no longer rape but consensual sex.”
Women in the Italian Parliament began to wear jeans to work in protest of the ruling, and the movement has spread around the world since then.
Denim Day encourages people to wear jeans as a symbol of protest against sexual assault and raise awareness of misconceptions that surround it.