MARION — Turning Point is joining the Marion Victim Assistance Program (VAP) in their participation in Denim Day on April 25.

You are invited to join Turning Point and VAP by wearing jeans on this day to stand in solidarity with victims of rape and sexual assault.

Denim Day takes place annually on a selected Wednesday in April as a part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. This day was inspired by female members of the Italian Parliament in the 1990s who wore denim to protest an overturned rape conviction.

The victim was an 18-year-old woman who was raped by her 45-year-old driving instructor during her first lesson. With the help of her parents, the victim pressed charges against her rapist and won the case. The perpetrator was charged and jailed, but he later appealed the ruling. In Italy’s Supreme Court, the ruling was overturned, the offender was released, and the case was dismissed.

The court came to this decision “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.”

This decision filled many female Parliament members with outrage, inspiring them to organize a protest in which they wore jeans to their jobs in Parliament. Their stand against this unjust ruling quickly spread to the United States and through Peace Over Violence, Denim Day has been celebrated annually in the U.S. since 1999.

Denim Day is a small, but significant, way in which anyone can show support for victims of rape and sexual violence. As stated on the Denim Day website, the campaign asks “community members, elected officials, businesses and students to make a social statement with their fashion by wearing jeans on this day as a visible means of protest against the misconceptions that surround sexual assault.”

Anyone can participate in Denim Day simply by wearing jeans, but if you are interested in bringing Denim Day into your office or organization, visit denimdayinfo.org/get-involved/ to register your participation, learn how to run a fundraising campaign, purchase denim day merchandise, and more.

In addition to the services offered by Turning Point and the Marion Victims Assistance Program, HelpLine also offers a number of services to victims of sexual violence in five Ohio counties (Delaware, Morrow, Logan, Union and Shelby). For information on Helpline and their services, visit helplinedelmor.org.

Turning Point has been serving domestic violence victims and their families for nearly 40 years in Crawford, Delaware, Marion, Morrow, Union and Wyandot Counties. All of Turning Point’s services are free and entirely confidential.

Services and programs offered by Turning Point include shelter, food, transportation, individual education and support, group education and support, victims’ rights advocacy, information and referral to other support organizations, 24-hour crisis line, children’s programming, community education, teen advocacy, and more.

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By Alexandra Kauser

For The Sentinel