Image Courtesy of The United Way Of Rock River Valley

The United Way of Rock River Valley is reminding everyone in the community to put their jeans on this Wednesday in support of National Denim Day. The United Way posted the following about the origins of National Denim Day on their website.

 “For the past 20 years, Peace Over Violence has run its Denim Day campaign on a Wednesday in April in honor of Sexual Violence Awareness Month. The campaign was originally triggered by a ruling by the Italian Supreme Court where a rape conviction was overturned because the justices felt that since the victim was wearing tight jeans she must have helped her rapist remove her jeans, thereby implying consent. The next day, all of the women of Parliament wore jeans in protest of the ruling!”

Nearly 30 percent of the violent crime in Rockford is attributed to domestic violence and sexual assault. In 2016, Illinois ranked 8th in the nation for reported human trafficking cases with Rockford ranking 2nd in the state only behind Chicago.

To show your support for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, this campaign is being launched on social media encouraging all members of our community to take a photo of themselves wearing denim of some type (jeans, jean jacket, denim shirt, etc.) and posting them on their social media pages with the hashtag – #815denimday.

Rockford Mayor, Tom MacNamara stated in a recent press briefing that, “Domestic battery incidents have increased 51 percent from mid-March to mid-April. We know that not everyone is “safe at home” during this “Stay Safe At Home” time.”

Now, more than ever, it’s imperative that we show our support and let survivors know that we care about them and that there are services available to help them in finding a safe place to stay or helping them to find a way to start a new life without living in fear.

If you or someone you know is the victim of abuse; help is just a phone call away:

RSAC (Rockford Sexual Assault Counseling) – 24-hour crisis hotline -815-636-9811

Remedies Renewing Lives – Domestic Violence Hotline – 815-962-6102

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