San Joaquin Department of Child Support Services Staff Wear Jeans for Good Cause

Veronica Riley, San Joaquin DCSS

On April 26, 2017, San Joaquin County Department of Child Support Services (SJ DCSS) participated in Denim Day to raise awareness of sexual assault.

Denim Day was established to remind the public of the harmful attitudes about sexual assault. In 1999, the Italian Supreme Court overturned a rape conviction simply because the victim had been wearing tight jeans so the court concluded the victim must have helped remove them.

Approximately 40 SJ DCSS staff participated in the one-day event by wearing denim jeans to work and donated at least $5 to benefit the San Joaquin Women’s Center- Youth and Family Services for victims of sexual assault.

The Women’s Center-Youth & Family Services is a safe haven and a place of healing for some of the most vulnerable populations in the San Joaquin community. Since 1976, the organization has been San Joaquin County’s only provider of free, confidential services and shelters specifically designed to meet the needs of homeless and runaway youth and victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking.

“SJ Denim Day”-  SJ DCSS staff show off their denim threads to raise awareness of the trauma of sexual assault