BOISE -- Around 100 people rallied during the noon hour at the Idaho Capitol today to raise awareness about sexual assault.
The event is called the "Denim Day: Rally for Respect."
Several organizations hosted the rally.
Denim Day is an internationally recognized event designed to raise awareness of sexual violence.
It has to do with rape case from 1998 in the Italian Supreme Court. The high court overturned a rape conviction because the victim wore tight jeans during the attack.
The court ruled the victim could not have been raped, because her pants were too snug for her attacker to remove by himself. The court reasoned the sexual act was consensual.
The decision incited an international campaign called Denim Day.
In the last 10 years, millions have participated and rallied.
This is the first time Boise citizens are putting on their jeans and participating in the rally.
"A large number of sexual assaults are not reported in the community," said Kevin McTeague, the Executive Director of Family Advocacy Center and Education Services. "There is fear of the victim being blamed, a fear of what might happen with the criminal justice process, just general fear of how it will be handled."
"One of the things that is most troubling is that 56 percent of girls in high school, and 76 percent of boys in high school feel that forcible sex under certain circumstances is acceptable," said Bea Black, Executive Director of the Women's and Children's Alliance. "I think it's a nuance that they are not seeing that as rape, and actually, if it is not consensual, it is rape."
Some of the organizations participating are the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual & Domestic Violence, Boise State Women's Center, Boise State Gender Rights Network, Planned Parenthood and the Idaho Women's Network.
Not only is today Denim Day, the month of April is Sexual Assault Awareness month.
