BY-NC-SA Students at Roosevelt High in downtown Los Angeles slipped into blue jeans to educate their peers about sexual violence as part of Wednesday’s worldwide commemoration of Denim Day. Among the supporters joining the students was the actress Calista Flockhart, who serves as the spokesperson for Peace Over Violence. The group organized the event in L.A.
Youth Radio’s Summer Sewell was also there to photograph the tabling students and their decorated denims. (See her gallery of photos in the right-hand column.)
The annual event started in 1998 after the Italian Supreme Court decided to let a convicted rapist walk free. The court determined that the victim must have consented to the sex because the jeans she was wearing were too tight to have been taken off her without her assistance and consent. Enraged by the ruling, women in the Italian parliament protested by wearing jeans on the steps of the Supreme Court. Protesters in Europe and the US have held similar demonstrations ever since.
Pairs of jeans were hung across the quad of Roosevelt High School on Denim Day in Boyle Heights as students attended a rally marking the anniversary of an overturned rape conviction in Italy that sparked international outrage.
Peace Over Violence Executive Director Patti Giggans speaks to an audience of Homeboy Industries members in Los Angeles, shedding light on the often overlooked issue of sexual violence on Denim Day (April 22, 2009). Participants from Homeboy Industries, which is a non-profit aimed at creating job possibilities for ex-gang members, wore white T-shirts and signed a pledge to raise awareness and support an end to sexual assault.
Actress Calista Flockhart shows her support for Denim Day at Roosevelt High's rally.
A sexual assault survivor addresses a crowd at Homeboy Industries, LA, bringing awareness to the underrepresented issue.
Marshall High student Judith Vargas explains the disturbing story behind Denim Day.
goood job judy
A Message From The Heart
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