[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 6862]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               DENIM DAY

  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize April 28, 
2008, as the first annual ``Denim Day'' in New Jersey.
  Each year, Denim Day is observed in communities across the country to 
raise awareness and educate the public about rape and sexual assault. 
The observance was created in response to an appalling 1998 decision of 
the Italian Supreme Court. In that decision, the court overturned a 
rape conviction because the victim was wearing tight jeans at the time 
of the attack and must have helped her rapist remove them. Women and 
men around the world were rightly outraged by the verdict, and wearing 
jeans on Denim Day has become an international symbol of protest, 
calling attention to the horrible crime of rape and the destructive 
attitudes that prevent sexual assault victims from receiving justice.
  Every 2 minutes, someone in the United States is sexually assaulted. 
Despite its prevalence, sexual assault is one of the most underreported 
crimes in the world, meaning many attackers never spend a day in prison 
for their offenses. Denim Day in New Jersey will send a strong and 
powerful message that sexual assault is always wrong.
  I hope this observance will encourage more sexual assault victims to 
come forward and hold their attacker accountable, as well as provide 
some comfort to the victims of sexual assault, who will know that they 
are not alone.
  Once again, I would like to recognize April 28, 2008, as ``Denim 
Day'' in New Jersey and reiterate my strong support for observing this 
important day.

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