Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson will join community organizations and advocates to host a Bronx Denim Day march this afternoon to bring recognition and visibility to combatting sexual assault in New York City.
The day was first commemorated in 1999, when an Italian court granted the appeal of a rapist and overturned his sentence after the court agreed to his claim that the victim’s tights jeans couldn’t have been taken off without her help. This sparked worldwide outrage and protests, with Italian women showing up to work wearing denim jeans and other denim clothing articles.
Patricia Giggans, an American feminist and the executive director of the Commission on Assaults Against Women — now known as Peace Over Violence — in Los Angeles, California, was inspired by these events and named the first Wednesday of every April as Denim Day. The day is meant to amplify the inequities found in the criminal justice system and resources to support survivors of sexual assault.
Gibson will begin at 3:30 p.m. by sharing some remarks at a press conference at the steps of Bronx Borough Hall, located at 851 Grand Concourse.
Then at 4 p.m. the walk begins. The route starts at Bronx Borough Hall on 161st Street and the Grand Concourse, and continues to 164th Street and the Grand Concourse and then back to 851 Grand Concourse.
There will be a reception at 5 p.m. in the Rotunda of Bronx Borough Hall, which will feature speakers and performances, as well as serve as a networking opportunity.
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