Denim demonstration

LOLITA HARPER

I hope you are reading this at the breakfast table in your bathrobe.

If so, I have caught you in time. Forget the outfit you had laid out

for yourself last night. Go back to the closet and pull out your

jeans.

That’s right, jeans. Low rise, high waters, slim fit or baggy, it

doesn’t matter -- just put them on if you believe in victims’ rights.

Students at Vanguard University will be doing so, as they observe

a moment of silence in the middle of campus to dispel myths regarding

rape and to show survivors of such attacks that they aren’t alone.

“Part of it is about raising awareness but part of it, too, is

that I think it is important to send a message to survivors saying,

‘We know this is not your fault,’” said Vanguard professor Cassandra

Van Zandt, who helped organize the last-minute event.

This student-driven effort is part of National Denim Day, which

was organized to protest a 1999 decision by the Italian Supreme Court

to overturn a rape case because the victim wore jeans. The court

ruled that the assailant would not have been able to remove the

woman’s jeans without her help -- therefore indicating consent,

according to the Los Angeles Commission of Assaults Against Women’s

website.

The women of the Italian legislature wore jeans in protest and the

gesture grew, eventually reaching an international level. Today marks

the anniversary of that protest and the students of Vanguard plan to

join in.

“This is a symbol of protest,” said Van Zandt, a first-year

professor of English. “There are so many myths about rape, that it

was the victim’s fault because of what she was wearing or that she

has had sex with a lot of people. This is a protest against that kind

of misinformation.”

The students will join in the middle of campus at noon, in a

grassy, mall area, Van Zandt said. Campus pastors Mike and Kristi De

Vito will lead the students in prayer and Van Zandt will say a few

words about the symbolism of denim. Students will also wear purple

ribbons in honor of April being sexual assault awareness month.

“We are going to pray for the legislature, the police force,

survivors and those who work with survivors,” Van Zandt said.

The vigil is especially relevant in Costa Mesa, where there have

been eight sexual assaults along a strip of Victoria Street since

December. One victim bravely told her account of her attack in the

Pilot on Tuesday. Police also went door-to-door this weekend to warn

Westside residents of the brazen assaults.

Van Zandt said she would have loved to have a Costa Mesa police

officer speak at the event but didn’t think of it in her rush to pull

it all off. The students only had about four days to put it together,

but they already have the wheels in motion for next year, which will

be bigger and better, especially considering the synergy of this

event.

“One of my students was talking to me about this and we just

decided, ‘Lets do something here,’’’ Van Zandt said. “And it just

snowballed into this great momentum of people spreading information

and awareness. It just makes you realize what amazing people surround

you.”

* LOLITA HARPER is the Forum editor. She also writes columns

Wednesdays and Fridays. She may be reached at (949) 574-4275 or by

e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes.com.