The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

To The Eagle:

April 29th is Denim Day. No – this is not a day for celebrating America’s love for jeans. It’s the anniversary of an event that sparked international outrage – when someone was wearing jeans that were “too” tight. At least the High Court of Italy saw it that way when it only took them a few days to overturn a rape conviction.

The victim, an 18 year old girl, was assaulted by her 45-year old driving instructor during what was supposed to be her very first lesson. The Chief Judge argued “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.” Within a matter of hours the women in the Italian Parliament took action and protested by wearing jeans to work the following day.

This April we are asking everyone to “make a social statement with their fashion statement” - to protest the many ways in which victims (both male and female) are blamed for the crimes committed against them. May we no longer ask “What was she wearing?”, “Why was she out alone?” or “How could he let that happen?”

The full story can be found at http://www.denimdayinfo.org.

Annika Vik,

The Charlotte House