The Metropolitan Police Department’s (MPD) Victim Services Branch (VSB) will be holding its third annual Denim Day on Thursday, April 24 from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm at MPD Headquarters, 300 Indiana Avenue, Northwest, Washington, DC. The Denim Day campaign began after the Italian Supreme Court overturned a rape conviction in 1998 stating that because the victim was wearing tight jeans, she must have helped the person who raped her remove her jeans, therefore implying consent. Denim Day is a call to action for all people to come together by wearing jeans as a symbol of protest against sexual violence. April is National Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and this year’s theme is I Ask. This campaign calls on individuals, as well as communities, to promote consent as a healthy, normal, and necessary part of our everyday encounters.
The event will have community resources, MPD representatives and victim advocates available on site. There will also be DIY denim arts and crafts projects, music by MPD’s Side by Side band, free popcorn and other informational tables.
The Denim Day event will have two panel discussions (am and pm) for a #RealTalk panel comprised of field experts discussing issues surrounding consent and sexual assault found in today’s headlines and taking questions from the audience.
The following topics of discussion include:
Consent: what it is and what it is not
How power impacts consent
Teaching consent early
Digital consent
Sexual assault in the news
Resources available in D.C.
Speakers on the panel are from the following organizations:
FAIR Girls
MPD Sexual Assault Unit
Ayuda
DC Rape Crisis Center
Safe Shores
Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE)
Network for Victim Recovery of DC (NVRDC)
US Helping Us
Crime Victims Compensation Program
Ascension Counseling
Paving the Way
For any questions or media inquiries, please contact [email protected]