STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

Wood River Valley residents are invited to wear denim for a Proclamation Reading regarding Sexual Assault Awareness Month today.

The reading will take place at 10 a.m. today—Tuesday, April 21—at the Hope Garden, First Avenue and Walnut Street next to the Old Courthouse in Hailey.

Speakers will include Idaho State Police representative Matthew Gammette, Hailey Police Officer Todd Peck, Advocates COO Tricia Swartling, Blaine County Commissioner Muffy Davis and Angela Brady of St. Luke’s Wood River.

Cake will be served and a Denim Photo will be taken in honor of Denim Day 2026.

Citizens are being asked to wear jeans with a purpose to support survivors of sexual assault on Wednesday, April 29. Denim Day has its genesis in a ruling by the Italian Supreme Court that overturned a rape conviction because the justices felt that, since the victim was wearing tight jeans, she must have helped the person who raped her remove them, thereby implying consent.

Following the reversal, females in the Italian Parliament came to work wearing jeans in solidarity with the victim.

The first Denim Day campaign was organized in Los Angeles in 1999 to bring awareness to victim blaming and protest misconceptions that continue to surround sexual violence. Learn more at https://denimday.org/why-denim.

Every 68 seconds someone in the United States is sexually assaulted, according to The Advocates. In Idaho 7,163 survivors received sexual assault advocacy services in 2023.

The Advocates was one of the organizations providing free, confidential services for those survivors, helping them with a 24-hour helpline, counseling, forensic exam support, court and legal advocacy, assistance with crime victim compensation and follow-up support.

Learn more at https://www.theadvocatesorg.org/.