Events, fundraiser put spotlight on Sexual Assault Awareness

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and the Valley Crisis Center is holding a Denim Day fundraiser aimed at helping survivors of sexual and domestic violence.

Advocates are asking community members to support the awareness effort by donating $5 before April 27, which is recognized as Denim Day.

Those who donate will be given a Denim Day button, said Program Director Chee Yang.

In the past year, the center has helped more than 400 people in Merced County who reported being sexually assaulted, authorities have said.

One in five women and one in 71 men will be raped at some point in their lives, according to a 2010 study by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.

Denim Day stems from a 1992 case in Italy where a man convicted of raping an 18-year-old girl had his conviction overturned by the nation’s Supreme Court. The court ruled the woman’s jeans would have been too tight to have been removed without her consent, according to reports from that year. Female lawmakers in Italy protested the court’s decision by wearing jeans and the case was held up by advocates as a miscarriage of justice.

Advocates said they are hoping to exceed last year’s total of $3,000 raised through the effort. The money benefits victims in need of basic daily toiletries, clothes and other items.

This story was originally published April 8, 2016 at 11:34 AM with the headline "Events, fundraiser put spotlight on Sexual Assault Awareness."