Full Notification

On Tuesday, April 1, 2014, at the Long Beach City Council Meeting, Mayor Bob Foster presented the Long Beach Police Department Women's Advisory Group with a City Proclamation for their dedication and hard work. The Women's Advisory Group has been an integral part of sexual assault awareness throughout the city of Long Beach, especially with young high school students. During the month of April, the "YWCA Clothesline Project" will be on display in the main library (101 Pacific Avenue). Each t-shirt on the clothesline was designed by a victim of sexual violence. This is an incredible visual display of how sexual violence can affect so many people in our society.

National Denim Day is April 23, 2014. This day people are encouraged to wear denim in support of all victims of sexual assault and in protest of the Italian Supreme Court who overturned a rape conviction based on the female victim wearing tight jeans.

The Long Beach Police Department will be holding Denim Day Long Beach at Cabrillo High School on Wednesday, April 30, 2014. This is an opportunity for police, advocates, and students to come together in support of victims of sexual assault as well as educate and bring awareness of how to protect yourself from sexually based crimes.

Information on Denim Day...

In Rome in 1997, a 45-year-old driving instructor was accused of rape. When he picked up an 18-year-old girl for her first driving lesson, he allegedly raped her for an hour, then told her that if she was to tell anyone he would kill her. Later that night she told her parents and her parents agreed to help her press charges. While the alleged rapist was convicted and sentenced, the Italian Supreme Court overturned the conviction in 1998 because the victim wore tight jeans. It was argued that she must have necessarily have had to help her attacker remove her jeans, thus making the act consensual ("because the victim wore very, very tight jeans, she had to help him remove them...and by removing the jeans...it was no longer rape but consensual sex"). The Italian Supreme Court stated in its decision “it is a fact of common experience that it is nearly impossible to slip off tight jeans even partly without the active collaboration of the person who is wearing them.”[1] As of 2008 the Italian Supreme Court has overturned their findings, and there is no longer a "denim" defense to the charge of rape.