Denim Day 2027 is on Wednesday

About Denim Day

The idea behind the day is that nothing a person wears is an invitation to sexual violence or evidence of consent. Wearing denim is a visible, easy way for students, coworkers and whole communities to say so together, and organizers pair it with education about consent, myths around rape and where survivors can find help.

The campaign traces back to a case in southern Italy. In February 1999, The New York Times reported that Italy's top appeals court had released the reasoning for a November ruling that threw out a driving instructor's rape conviction and ordered a new trial. Among its arguments, the court said tight jeans could not be removed without the victim's help. Critics called this the "jeans alibi," and a group of women in the Italian Parliament began wearing jeans to work in protest. Lawmakers in California's legislature later staged their own denim protest.

Patti Occhiuzzo Giggans, executive director of the Los Angeles nonprofit Peace Over Violence, saw the coverage and decided everyone should wear jeans to challenge myths about why rape happens. The organization held the first Denim Day in Los Angeles in April 1999 and still runs the campaign, which it says has grown into a worldwide movement. It is held on the last Wednesday of April, during Sexual Assault Awareness Month in the US.

Italy's Court of Cassation moved away from the jeans reasoning in July 2008, when it upheld a sexual assault conviction and said jeans could not be treated like a chastity belt. Denim Day is a separate event from Lee National Denim Day, a breast cancer fundraiser held in the fall.

Sources: Peace Over Violence: About Denim Day, The New York Times: Ruling on Tight Jeans and Rape Sets Off Anger in Italy (1999), Independent.ie: Italian court reverses 'tight jeans' rape ruling (2008), RAINN: National Sexual Assault Hotline. How we check dates.

How to mark Denim Day

• Wear jeans to work or school and be ready to explain why if someone asks.
• Learn what consent means and talk about it with friends, teenagers or students in plain terms.
• Find out which rape crisis center serves your area and save its hotline number so you can share it if someone needs it.
• Ask your school or workplace to host a denim photo, a teach-in or an information table during the week.
• Donate to or volunteer with a local organization that supports survivors of sexual violence.
• If someone tells you they were assaulted, believe them, listen without judging and let them decide what happens next.

Denim Day dates