Welcome to Denim Day 2020!
What a different world we find ourselves in today—so much has changed. Unfortunately, some things have not and they include the prevalence of sexual assault and the immediate inclination to blame the victim for that assault. According to the Crime in Idaho Report for 2017, a non-consensual sex offense (excluding rape) occurred every 7.9 hours in our beautiful state, and a rape was completed every 15.4 hours. And the most current statics from RAINN tell us that every 73 seconds a sexual assault occurs in the U.S. and every 9 minutes the victim is a child.
For this reason, I invite you to join me today in wearing denim and letting your contacts know about it through your social media channels. You can also help by sharing posts that appear on our social media channels with information and activities all geared around raising awareness and encouraging our community to support victims and hold perpetrators accountable.
“For anybody whose once normal everyday life was suddenly shattered by an act of sexual violence– the trauma, the terror, can shatter you long after one horrible attack. It lingers. You don’t know where to go or who to turn to…and people are more suspicious of what you were wearing or what you were drinking, as if it’s your fault, not the fault of the person who assaulted you…We still don’t condemn sexual assault as loudly as we should. We make excuses, we look the other way…[Laws] won’t be enough unless we change the culture that allows assault to happen in the first place.” – President Barack Obama, September 2014
Today has been proclaimed Denim Day in the City of Boise by Mayor Lauren McLean, we are so thankful for the partnership of our community leaders working to make change. Visit the Mayor’s Facebook page to view the virtual proclamation signing.
This evening, I invite you to join Steve Eaton as he goes Live for a concert on our Facebook page from his living room, to raise awareness of the pervasiveness of this issue, in support of victims in our community and of the services we offer through the WCA. To be invited into his home and to have the privilege of him performing on our behalf is such a gift!
Join us today in whatever way you can and let’s see how far and wide we can spread our outreach and message that sexual assault is NEVER your fault!
Gratefully,
Bea
