Denim Day 2024: What is it and why is it important? [Video]

WASHINGTON — People across the world will be standing in solidarity with victims of sexual assault by wearing jeans and denim on Wednesday.

Denim Day falls on the last Wednesday of April, near the end of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The worldwide movement is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. 

On each Denim Day, elected officials, businesses and students are asked to wear jeans or denim as a “means of protest against misconceptions that surround sexual violence.” 

What is Denim Day?

While the first official Denim Day event in Los Angeles was hosted in April 1999, the story behind the campaign goes back a few years. 

In 1992, an 18-year-old woman in Italy was raped by her 45-year-old driving instructor, who was then sentenced to jail on a rape conviction. 

Years later, the driving instructor appealed his sentence on claims that the act was “consensual.” The …