NYPD Honors Denim Day To Raise Awareness About Sexual Assault

NEW YORK, NY — The New York City Police Department joins residents from across the boroughs in wearing denim on Denim Day NYC, an annual movement supported by a coalition of survivors, advocates, community organizations, city council members and city agencies working together to raise awareness about sexual assault. The seventh annual Denim Day NYC rally and press conference kicked off April 26 at 11 a.m. at Lower Manhattan’s Foley Square, located at 111 Worth St. and was promoted on social media using the hashtag #iamnotinvisible.

According to the Denim Day website, the event launched in 2010 as a response to a 1998 Italian Supreme Court ruling that overturned a rape conviction because the victim wore tight jeans. But the Denim Day NYC organizers herald a singular message: “Assault is never about what you wear.”

A Denim Day NYC march is scheduled to begin at 4:45 p.m in the Bronx. Marchers will meet at the corner of Grand Concourse and Mount Eden Parkway at 4:15 p.m. and make their way to the Bronx Museum. Participants will include the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center’s Department of Pediatrics, the Bronx Museum of the Arts and the New Settlement Program for Girls and Young Women, among others.

Staten Islanders are invited to join Safe Horizon, the nation’s leading victim assistant organization, at the Staten Island Ferry terminal from 3-6 p.m, where Safe Horizon staffers will provide commuters with resources about support services for survivors of sexual assault. (For more New York City news, click here to sign up for Patch's daily newsletter and free, real-time news alerts.)

If you or someone you know is a survivor of sexual assault, call the Safe Horizon Rape Crisis/Sexual Abuse Hotline at (212) 227-3000 or the New York City Police Department Special Victims Report Line at (212) 267-7273, both available 24 hours, seven days a week. A full list of resources, support and assistance is available on the Denim Day website.

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