Wednesday, April 22, is the 11th Annual Denim Day in L.A. Peace Over Violence (POV, a local non-profit organization that runs violence prevention groups in som of our secondary schools) began this campaign to raise awareness and change existing attitudes surrounding sexual violence.

The event was triggered by an Italian Supreme Court decision that overturned a rape conviction because the victim wore jeans. The justices stated that they could infer consent by assuming that the victim must have helped her attacker remove her jeans.

As you can imagine, people the world over were outraged. Wearing jeans became an international symbol of protest against ignorant attitudes about sexual assault.

Now hold this image in your mind: One in 6 American women is a victim of sexual assault; One in 3 teens experiences physical or sexual abuse while dating. You are working and going to school, shoulder to shoulder, with someone who has been personally affected.

Or maybe even that person is you.

I will wear denim on April 22nd. Will you?