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PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. - Picatinny Arsenal employees wore jeans in support of Denim Day on April 26 as part of the installation's Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month observation.
Earlier in the month, Picatinny Arsenal Garrison Sexual Assault Response Coordinator, Alberta Cole, collected approximately 80 pairs of jeans that were donated by Picatinny Arsenal employees. The jeans were marked with slogans such as “no means no,” and were displayed around the Picatinny Arsenal garrison community.
Denim Day encourages people to wear denim jeans to raise awareness of rape and sexual assault. The observance is on the last Wednesday of April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
The use of jeans to observe the awareness month dates back to an Italian court case. In 1992, a 45-year-old driving instructor in Rome was accused of rape. When he picked up an 18-year-old girl for her first driving lesson, he allegedly raped her for an hour, then told her that he would kill her if she told anyone. Later that night she told her parents, who helped her press charges.
The alleged rapist was convicted and sentenced, but the Italian Supreme Court overturned the conviction in 1998 because the victim wore tight jeans. The court argued that she must have helped her attacker remove her jeans, thus making the act consensual. The high court stated that “It is a fact of common experience that it is nearly impossible to slip off tight jeans even partly without the active collaboration of the person who is wearing them.”
In 2008, the Italian Supreme Court overturned its findings, thus eliminating a “denim” defense to the charge of rape.
More information below:
Garrison SHARP Hotline: 862.210.0296
DOD Safe Helpline: 877.995.5247
Morris Cares Hotline: 973.829.0587
NJ Coalition Against Sexual Assault: 800.601.7200
1.877. R. U. ABUSED
Army one stop shop: https://www.sharplearningportal.army.mil
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