DENIM DAY AT HBCUs

           

 Today is April 24, 2013. It is also Denim Day at HBCUs and today marks the fifth Denim Day At HBCUs.. Denim Day is simply an effort to an HBCU project called Ending Violence Against Women (EVAW). People around campus have been coming  to me asking, "What is Denim Day?" or, "What is Denim Day about?" For those who do not know about Denim Day or would like to know more about Denim Day, please keep reading.

The History of Denim Day

                 In 1992, an 18-year old girl was taking driving lessons from her 45-year old driving instructor for her very first time. The instructor drives her to an isolated road and forcefully rapes her. He pulls her out of the vehicle, wrestles her out of one leg of her denim 

jeans, and rapes her. He threatened to kill her if she said a word to anybody. She then tells her parents when she returned home that night. The girl's parents begin to support her to press charges. Her driving instructor was arrested and prosecuted; he was also convicted and sentenced to jail. He then appeals the sentence.

                This particular case makes it all the way to the Italian Supreme Court and within a matter of days the case against the driving instructor was dismissed, overturned, and he was released from jail.

Why Denim?

                This particular statement was released by the Italian Supreme Court Chief Judge declared; "because the victim wore very, very tight jeans, she had to help him remove them... and by removing the jeans... it was no longer rape but consensual sex."

My Thoughts

I feel that it was unethical and immoral to dismiss a case like that. He could have had a gun held to her head and threatened to shoot her had she not helped him remove her jeans. I feel that courts don't think about things like that. And my condolence goes out to that girl and every woman who has been raped before. I deeply am sorry that you women have to go through this. I'm wearing this shirt for you.

Sincerely, Gerald Green