Pillars Invites Community to Honor Sexual Assault Survivors at April Event

Submitted by Pillars.

Hickory Hills, IL - Each April in conjunction with Sexual Assault Awareness Month, people around the world recognize Denim Day.

Denim Day is an annual remembrance of a 1992 Italian Supreme Court Case, in which a rape conviction was overturned.

The justices believed that because the victim was wearing tight jeans, she must have helped the attacker remove them and therefore it was consensual. Women in the Italian Parliament protested the following day by wearing jeans.

Staff at Pillars (the largest nonprofit provider of mental health and social services in the western and southwestern suburbs) wear jeans each Denim Day to commemorate the protest.

This year, Pillars invites the community to join in the remembrance. The agency is hosting a Denim Day Speak Out/Balloon Release and I Scream (Ice Cream) Against Rape Social on April 27 at Noon in the Pillars Hickory Hills parking lot.

Members of the public are invited to wear jeans and attend the event, where survivors and staff will be speaking about their experiences with sexual violence.

Balloons will be released in honor of Pillars’ sexual assault clients. Following the event, attendees will be invited inside for an ice cream social.

“Sexual assault is not a personal matter—it’s something all of society needs to be concerned about,” says Anika Sterling Florez, coordinator with Pillars’ Sexual Assault program. “This is why we raise awareness and why it’s important to involve the community. We all play a part in sexual violence.”

• What: Denim Day Speak Out/Balloon Release and I Scream (Ice Cream) Against Rape Social
• Why: In honor of sexual assault survivors, during Sexual Assault Awareness Month
• When: Wednesday, April 27
• Where: Pillars – Hickory Hills location, 8020 W. 87th St., Hickory Hills, IL 60457