ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. (May 8, 2023) – The U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command, or ATEC, held its annual Denim Day observance at ATEC Headquarters on Aberdeen Proving Ground, or APG, April 26.
The Denim Day campaign began after a ruling in 1999 by the Italian Supreme Court overturned a rape conviction because the rape victim wore tight jeans. The Italian Supreme Court argued, “because the victim wore very, very tight jeans, she had to help him (the alleged rapist) remove them, and by removing the jeans it was no longer rape but consensual sex.” The day after the court’s decision, the women in the Italian Parliament came to work wearing jeans in solidarity with the victim.
Patricia Giggans, who at the time was the executive director of the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women (now Peace Over Violence), spearheaded the Denim Day campaign which spread across the country. Since then, the Denim Day observance has been held on a Wednesday in April in conjunction with Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
Chris Barrett, U.S. Army Evaluation Center, or AEC, executive director, gave opening remarks. Barrett introduced the guest speaker, Command Sergeant Major (Ret) Harold Glen Hull, who is a sexual assault and sexual abuse survivor and advocate.
Following Barrett’s introduction, Chrissie McClung, AEC program specialist and ATEC Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention, or SHARP, advocate, shared the background on Denim Day with the attendees.
After McClung’s remarks, she invited Hull to share his vivid story describing details of his experience from his abusive childhood.
Hull concluded the observance with a question-and-answer session after sharing his story.
For help or further information on Denim Day, please visit http://denimdayinfo.org.
For further information on services provided by APG’s SHARP Resource Center, please contact the APG SHARP Hotline at 410-322-7154.
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