Kentucky police bring attention to National Denim Day in honor of sexual assault awareness month

LEXINGTON, Ky. ( FOX 56 ) — Many people decided to wear denim on Wednesday for a bigger purpose than just a casual fashion statement. It’s to stand in solidarity with sexual assault survivors.

While it can be hard for survivors to ever want to talk about what happened, the goal is that seeing so much denim being worn will remind them that the community is standing with them. Kentucky State Police took to social media, spreading the word on National Denim Day.  KSP Post 8 trooper Scott Ferrel was glad to help spread the word.

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“I know it’s hard, especially something that I personally have never experienced, but I couldn’t imagine what they do go through, what that would do to them mentally and physically,” Ferrel said.

There’s a story on why denim is the clothing of choice for this cause, dating back to an Italian Supreme Court ruling in 1992. Special victims advocate Natalie Tate explained the backstory that led to denim representing the cause to this day.

“An 18-year-old girl was unfortunately sexually assaulted by her 45-year-old driving instructor. The perpetrator was found guilty, but the Italian supreme court ended up overruling that, saying that because the survivor’s jeans were so tight, there’s no way she could have been sexually assaulted,” Tate said.

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Now, denim is worn every last Wednesday in April in honor of that survivor, among many others. Lenzi Dodgen is the acting director and survivor advocate at the University of Kentucky Violence Intervention and Prevention Center (VIP). Dodgen was glad to see so many people wearing denim on this important day.

“I think that people are ready to jump in and support survivors. I think we’re ready as a community to stand in solidarity with survivors, and I think the message is pretty clear that we are a community of belonging and welcoming for survivors. I also think that the message is that we are interested in learning the ways and the roles that we can do as individuals to make our community safer,” Dodgen said.

Over time, more resources have come up for the survivors, and whether that’s local law enforcement, or the VIP center, it’s all for the same cause. Showing these survivors that they’re not alone.

“I really love seeing law enforcement getting involved and showing support for survivors. It can’t be easy for all survivors to come forward. It can be really scary to come forward to law enforcement, so getting people like KSP and UK PD involved in the movement, showing support, wearing denim if they’re able, it helps remind people that we’re here for them,” Tate said.

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