An Italian Supreme Court once overturned a rape conviction 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 following day, the women in the Italian Parliament came to work wearing jeans in solidarity with the victim.
Since then, one Wednesday every April has been allocated as Denim Day. The purpose of Denim Day is to protest against erroneous and destructive attitudes about sexual assault and stand in solidarity with rape victims.
Today is denim day.
And today we got sent this powerful video from 19-year-old reader Emily Ryan from Clare.
Emily has made this piece to support rape victims and encourage them to report the crimes committed against them.
Emily writes:
“The video was made in order to not only raise awareness for rape but also the after effects and to send the message that you should reach out afterwards for help. I can’t tell you how many messages I have received today from victims and how they now regret not contacting anyone sooner until they saw my short film. I made the film to help people and send this message across. The power of a small conversation is completely underestimated.”
A 2001 survey from The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre found that 7.5 % of Irish women and 1.5 % of Irish men have experienced rape or attempted rape in adulthood. In 2013, The National Rape Crisis Statistics show that the Rape Crisis Centre received over 32,026 calls.
The research found a clear commonality that there is a fear of reporting sexual crimes.
Only 1 % of men and 8 % of women report rape or sexual assault to the Gardai.
