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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
COMMEMORATING THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF DENIM DAY
WHEREAS, April is National Sexual Assault Awareness Month; and
WHEREAS, according to national statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men in the United States (U.S.) are survivors of sexual assault; and
WHEREAS, the Illinois Crisis Centers serves an average of 10,000 survivors of sexual violence each year; and
WHEREAS, a survey from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control from the CDC reported that 43.6% of women in the U.S. experienced some form of contact sexual violence, and 23 million women in the U.S. are survivors of completed or attempted rape at some point in their lifetime; and
WHEREAS, according to the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics National Crime Victimization Survey: only 230 of every 1,000 rapes are reported, only 46 of every 1,000 rapes lead to arrest, and only 5 of every 1,000 rapes lead to conviction in the U.S.; and
WHEREAS, for the past 20 years, Peace Over Violence, a sexual and domestic violence prevention center headquartered in Los Angeles, California, has hosted the Denim Day campaign on a Wednesday in April in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month; and
WHEREAS, the Denim Day story begins in Italy in 1992, when an 18-year old girl was raped by the 45-year old driving instructor who was taking her on her very first driving lesson. He took her to an isolated road, pulled her out of the car, removed her jeans and raped her; and
WHEREAS, after she reported the rape, the perpetrator was arrested, prosecuted, and convicted of rape and sentenced to jail; and
WHEREAS, years later, that conviction was overturned by the Italian Supreme Court using the “jeans alibi” - according to the justices, the woman was wearing tight jeans, therefore she must have helped the person who raped her remove her jeans, thereby implying consent; and
WHEREAS, the following day, the women in the Italian Parliament came to work wearing jeans in solidarity with the survivor; and
WHEREAS, the Denim Day campaign became official in the U.S. in 1999 where people wore denim in solidarity with women in the Italian Parliament; and
WHEREAS, since then, wearing jeans or other denim apparel on Denim Day has become a symbol of protest against erroneous and destructive manners about sexual harassment, abuse, assault and rape; and
WHEREAS, in this sexual violence prevention and education campaign, community members, elected officials, businesses and students are asked to make a social statement by wearing denim on this day as a visible protest against the misconceptions that surround sexual violence.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Cook County Board of Commissioners recognizes Wednesday, April 24, 2019 as the 20th Annual Denim Day; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a suitable copy of this resolution be tendered to Peace Over Violence, the non-profit overseeing the national Denim Day campaign, as well as local advocates and sexual assault prevention organizations such as Mujeres Latinas En Acción and Our Resilience (formerly Rape Victim Advocates) that diligently work each day to provide services to survivors in crisis, and to prevent sexual assault and violence through education and activism.
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