How hard is it to get out of a pair of tight jeans?

In the 1990s, the Supreme Court of Italy overturned a rape conviction based on that question.

The court decided that, because the 18-year-old victim was wearing tight jeans, she must have helped the 45-year-old driving instructor remove them, which implied she gave consent, and the court freed the instructor.

Amber Knopp, community services director of the Shelby County office of Turning Point Domestic Violence Services, said the response started a worldwide movement.

“And so, the women in the Italian Parliament wore jeans to protest that decision, and then that's kind of just been adopted around, different places around the world, that, on that day, that you wear jeans to kind of show your support for survivors, and also bring awareness to, awareness to the myths regarding sexual violence,” Knopp said.

On Wednesday, Turning Point is asking everyone who can to wear jeans to mark Denim Day.

A number of businesses and organizations in Shelbyville are participating, Knopp said, wearing jeans, and stickers and buttons, for the annual event.

Also for Denim Day, Turning Point is inviting the public to attend a ceremony in support of the victims of sexual violence.

The ceremony will take place at 1 p.m. on Wednesday in Shelbyville City Hall, 44 W. Washington St., where Mayor Tom DeBaun is scheduled to read a proclamation.