Leaders from the City of Homer and South Peninsula Haven House, along with several community members, gathered at the Homer Chamber of Commerce last Wednesday, April 30, in observation of Haven House’s first annual Denim Day.

Haven House offers a broad range of services for victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence, including a 24/7 crisis line, their Homer shelter, two Child Advocacy Centers in Homer and Kenai, multiple prevention programs, and more.

Denim Day, an international sexual assault prevention campaign, is observed annually on the last Wednesday of April. Denim Day began in Italy in 1992, when an 18-year-old girl went out for her first driving lesson and was sexually assaulted by her driving instructor and threatened with death if she told anyone what he’d done.

Haven House Executive Director Lindsey Collins told the rest of the story to those gathered at the chamber and watching a Facebook livestream of the event — the girl did tell her parents about the assault, and they pressed charges. The driving instructor was arrested, prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced to prison.

However, he appealed the sentence, and the case went all the way up to the Italian Supreme Court.

“Within a matter of days, the case was overturned, the charges dismissed, and the perpetrator was released,” Collins said. “The Chief Judge said he made this ruling: ‘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.’”

Enraged by the new verdict, women in the Italian Parliament protested by wearing jeans to work, an action which caught the attention of the California Senate and motivated them to do the same, Collins said. From there, the Denim Day movement grew into the annual international campaign that it is today.

Haven House Board of Directors Chair Britt Huffman explained that Denim Day participants around the world — and on Wednesday, in Homer — wear denim “not for style or comfort, but as a powerful symbol” against victim blaming, against silence, and against the idea that what someone wears can justify of excuse sexual violence.

“Here in Alaska, we are painfully familiar with the realities of sexual violence,” she said. “Our state continues to have some of the highest rates in the nation.

“But these are not just numbers — they’re people. They are our neighbors, our friends, our children and our community members — people whose lives have been forever changed, and whose voices are too often silenced.”

Collins noted that in 2020, the rate of sexual assault reported to law enforcement was 156 per 100,000 in Alaska, while the average rate for reported sexual assault in the U.S. is 38.4 per 100,000.

“We are four times higher than the national average, and those are only the assaults that are being reported,” she said. “We can do better in our state and for our community.”

As part of their inaugural observation of Denim Day, Collins and Huffman also presented the Denim Day Prevention Proclamation, which Huffman explained is a community-wide pledge to prioritize sexual violence prevention, support survivors and promote a culture of consent and respect. The proclamation was signed by City of Homer Mayor Rachel Lord, Homer Police Department Chief Mark Robl, Homer United Methodist Church Pastor Lisa Talbott and Homer Women of Action’s Sandra Garity.

The proclamation read last Wednesday was also unanimously passed as a resolution by the Homer City Council on March 24 acknowledging April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

This year’s Denim Day slogan, “Use Your Voice,” reflects the prevention aspect of the campaign. Collins explained ways that community members can pledge to use their voice, including educating themselves and others; supporting survivors; challenging misconceptions about sexual violence, such as the misconception that men can’t be victims of sexual violence or that it matters what someone was wearing when they were assaulted; and being an ally in solidarity with other violence prevention movements.

“Everyone here has a role to play in prevention,” Huffman said. “It can be as simple as believing someone when they share their story, as powerful as teaching our youth about consent and boundaries, as vital as challenging harmful language when we hear it and as courageous as saying, ‘I will not stay silent.’

“So today, we ask you to go beyond the denim … and help us build a culture where no one has to be ashamed of surviving, and no one has to survive alone.”

Haven House will dedicate Denim Day each year to a different victim, according to Huffman, “with the hope that one day we will no longer need to add names to this campaign.”

“Our dream is that there will be no new victims. And of course, we must acknowledge that for every survivor we know about, many more suffer in silence,” she said.

Denim Day is dedicated this year to Anesha “Duffy” Murnane.

“We chose Duffy to offer her family and this community a new way to honor her life,” Huffman said. “When we think of her, we won’t only remember the tragedy — we’ll remember her with words like ‘hope,’ ‘justice’ and ‘love.’

“Let this denim be more than a symbol. Let it be a promise to make Homer and our surrounding communities safer, stronger and more just. … Let’s make this the year we move beyond awareness and into action.”

Learn more about South Peninsula Haven House by visiting havenhousealaska.org/, or find more on their observation of Denim Day at www.facebook.com/havenhousealaska/.

South Peninsula Haven House Board of Directors Chair Britt Huffman speaks to gathered community members during the first annual Haven House observation of Denim Day on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, at the Homer Chamber of Commerce in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)

South Peninsula Haven House Executive Director Lindsey Collins explains the history of Denim Day during the first annual Haven House observation of Denim Day on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, at the Homer Chamber of Commerce in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)

Homer Mayor Rachel Lord signs the Denim Day Prevention Proclamation during the first annual South Peninsula Haven House observation of Denim Day on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, at the Homer Chamber of Commerce in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)

Sandra Garity, representing the Homer Women of Action, signs the Denim Day Prevention Proclamation during the first annual South Peninsula Haven House observation of Denim Day on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, at the Homer Chamber of Commerce in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)