You may or may not know that April has been declared Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Denim Day takes place the last Wednesday of April of every year. This year’s date is Wednesday, the 28th of April. For those that are still thinkin that Denim Day is celebrating the invention of jeans as I did in the beginning… Well, let me tell you a story:


Does this story still sound relevant to you even though it happened 30 years ago?
I suppose it does, since every 98 seconds another person experiences sexual assault. 63% of sexual assaults are never reported. 44% of sexual assault and rape victims are under the age of 18. 1 in 6 men experience abusive sexual experiences before the age of 18. Around the world, 1 in 3 women will be raped or beaten in her lifetime.
However there are still a lot of people that will argue these statistical data are incorrect and prove nothing, trying to undermine the severity of it. I don’t know if I can directly blame these people. There’s so much pain everywhere. Sometimes it becomes so overwhelming that we choose to just close our eyes to some of it, in order to cope. The truth is we’re all scared. We’re terrified of each other. It is disturbing to think that no matter your gender, age, sexual orientation, behavior or level of cautiousness, you can still be a victim. This undoubtedly makes sexual assault a subject that concerns us ALL.
This year the #ΜeToo movement finally exploded in Greece when former Olympic champion Sofia Bekatorou revealed she had been sexually assaulted by an unnamed Hellenic Sailing Federation (HSF) executive in 1998. Her revelation prompted many more women — and a few men — to publicly accuse famous professors, actors and directors of sexual abuse, physical harm and rape. While some observers started paying attention and support the courage abuse victims have shown in coming forward with their harrowing experiences, there were also a lot of people that defied the validity and motive behind their story. “Why are they only talking now?” “They are lying; they’re only seeking for attention.” “If you kept silent about it and continued working in the same environment with your abuser, then you are an accomplice to your own rape” were only some of the comments coming from both women and men accompanying those stories.
There is a lot of misunderstanding around the topic of sexual abuse. The biggest: that sexual abuse is about sex. It’s not. It’s about violence. And violence of any form cannot be tolerated. I find myself quite often comparing the crime of murder to rape. I strongly consider rape being a crime which in any case should lead in conviction. However, while murder is the most severely punished crime by law, laws against the act of sexual assault and violence are insufficient, inconsistent, and not systematically enforced. Why is that?
I think the answer to my question is linked to the result of the crime. Murder has a direct and definitive result: Death. No one questions death, so it is easier to see the victim as it is. On the other hand, the result of rape if not accompanied by murder is unpredictable. In the case of Bekatorou, you see an Olympic champion, a successful woman, a loving mother of two children. Roles not directly linked with the profile of a rape survivor. Her trauma is not physical at this point, so it is difficult to see it and accept it. People misunderstand how traumas impact survivors. We’re not only talking about getting over physical injury. We’re talking about forming relationships, how you feel about your body, your autonomy being taken away from you – that can happen to men or women.
The 18-year old girl that inspired Denim Day was fortunately in a mental state to inform her parents immediately and report her case. Most survivors often do not find themselves in the same state. They describe experiencing a new type of pain that leaves them paralyzed and mentally numb. They deny the event in their head in an attempt to dissociate themselves from a reality they cannot face. Some silence it forever as a form of coping. Others share their experiences as an attempt to heal and advocate. You cannot say that someone is braver than the other. I think that each one of them is brave enough to continue living, picking up their pieces step by step.
Our vision is a world without violence. Where no child is abused, no wife battered, no friend raped. A world without terror, without threats, without wounds from intentional actions. Where the strong provide for the vulnerable, where the vulnerable become empowered, where every kind of family is safe and secure, girls, boys, women and men have a fair and equal chance at the pursuit of happiness in a tolerant and talented society. We both know that this is impossible. This should not discourage us though. Because this is what makes us human: our constant urge and need to strive for the impossible. And who knows? We might actually succeed in it!
So next time you hear a story about a human being that was sexually assaulted, don’t try to immediately doubt and find gaps in their story but ask yourself first:
HOW CAN I HELP?

Denim Day is April 28, 2021.
NO THINKIN asks YOU to make a social statement with your fashion statement by wearing jeans on this day as a visible means of protest against the misconceptions that surround sexual violence. Upload a post or story with #denimdaygreece and tag @no_thinkin and/or @mirketa.

For you #NoThinker,
Eli