Denim Day

EASTERN CAPE EMPLOYEES SAY ‘NO’ TO SEXUAL VIOLENCE

OCJ employees in the Eastern Cape put on their denims on April 28 in support of Denim Day – a world-wide campaign against sexual violence.

Denim Day is a campaign on a Wednesday in April in honour of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The campaign began in the 1990s after a ruling by the Italian Supreme Court where a rape conviction was overturned because the justices felt that since the victim was wearing tight jeans she must have helped the person who raped her remove her jeans, thereby implying consent. The following day, the women in the Italian Parliament came to work wearing jeans in solidarity with the victim. The organisation Peace Over Violence developed the Denim Day campaign in response to this case and the activism surrounding it. Since then, what started as a local campaign to bring awareness to victim blaming and destructive myths that surround sexual violence has grown into a movement.

OCJ employees in the Eastern Cape Province joined the rest of the world and made a social statement, with their fashion statement, by wearing jeans on this day as a visible means of protest against the misconceptions surrounding sexual violence.

The day included the hosting of a virtual educational talk in which Ms Ntsintsi Komani, a pastor and Cluster Manager: Interpreting Services for the Department of Justice, was the key note speaker. In her address, she urged men to zip up and to avoid any grey areas in order to ensure the safety of women. Ms Komani spoke about the trauma of sexual harassment, which she said sometimes leads to excessive absenteeism at work, poor performance or resignation. She stressed that jokes with sexual undertones are not funny and that they should be avoided at all costs.

As a way of encouraging staff to read more about sexual offence issues, officials participated in a free raffle, the prize for which was a book by Alison Botha titled “I have life”. The book is about the experience of a rape survivor whose case coincidentally was heard at the Port Elizabeth High Court in 1997. The book teaches about the process of evolving from a victim to a victor.

THE MONTH IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO PROMOTE AFRICAN UNITY, DEEPER REGIONAL INTEGRATION AND RECOMMIT AFRICA TO A COMMON DESTINY

4 By Mr Denim Kroqwana

Director: Court Operations, Eastern Cape Division of the High Court

Officials from the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court wore jeans to commemorate Denim Day, which is a world-wide campaign against sexual violence.