April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Child Abuse Prevention Month
Every 73 seconds, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted, and every nine minutes, that victim is a child. These are appalling and heartbreaking statistics, especially when you realize most victims will never report the crime. The need for us to come together and support victims of sexual assault and harassment has never been greater. You only need to look at recent local news headlines to understand the reality of victim-blaming and shaming.
Denim Day
Denim Day is a day-long awareness campaign that allows us to honor survivors of sexual assault and start conversations about the dangers of victim-blaming.
Why denim? In 1992 an 18-year-old Italian girl was sexually assaulted by her 45-year-old male driving instructor. While he was initially convicted of the crime and sent to prison, the ruling was later overturned by the Italian Supreme Court because the justices felt that, because the victim wore tight jeans, she must have helped remove them thereby making the act consensual.
The following day the women of the Italian Legislature protested this decision by wearing jeans to work. As news of the decision spread, so did the protests. In 1999, an agency in Los Angeles, CA established the first Denim Day in the US—a tradition that has grown and continued since.
We have had participation from across the country as individuals and organizations have accessed our Denim Day materials and can still do so by downloading posters and postcards from our website. Folks local in the area can also stop by the WCA to pick up any desired materials. Wear your denim on April 28, help us raise awareness that there is never an excuse and never a reason for sexual assault. And it is NEVER your fault… victim-blaming, victim shaming or intimidation is never ok.
This is Volunteer Appreciation Week, and we are so grateful for all the ways that our volunteers contribute to the work of the WCA.
We have missed seeing our volunteers in person over the last twelve months and are excited to have some eager folks trickling back in to help. Gradually, as our WCA team and volunteers have received their COVID vaccinations, we have been able to welcome some of our volunteers back to support our work with their time and assistance. In addition to welcoming some long-time childcare volunteers back into our facility, we are grateful to the volunteers that have dedicated many hours to assembling ribbons and kits for the upcoming Denim Day event.
