Denim Day

I just picked up a flier about this this week at Student Health Services. I couldn't believe it when I read it:

In 1997 a 17-year-old girl in Italy was raped and abandoned in an alley by her 56-year-old driving instructor. After reporting the incident, the perpetrator is prosecuted and sentenced to jail. In 1998 he appeals the court's decision. The case is taken all the way to the Italian Supreme Court where the case is overturned and the perpetrator is released. In a statement by the head judge, he argued: "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."

Aaaaaah, I can't even respond to this. The flier calls for people to wear jeans on April 23rd (yesterday, oops!) in protest. You can find out more at www.denimdayinla.org. Though the protest could be something more noticeable, the website is really great, calling out "rape excuses" (the "rape myths" from the reading).