Red Lips and Tight Jeans: Raising Awareness for Sexual Assault

April is National Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and many organizations are rallying in support of victims to inform and protect those in the community.

An organization called Red My Lips founded by Danielle Tansino, a social worker and sexual assault survivor, after she was raped by an acquaintance. The district attorney’s office refused to bring Tansino’s case to trial because jurors “don’t like girls that drink.”

After her experience, Tansino set out to rectify the wrongs that are a side-effect of victim-blaming and founded Red My Lips.

According to their website, this organization’s is “to transform our culture of sexual violence by educating, inspiring, and mobilizing a global community to red their lips, raise their voices, and create real change.” Every year, Red My Lips launches an annual campaign for their followers – whom they refer to as “warriors” – to don red lipstick every day for the month of April.

Red My Lips starts the conversation. Red lipstick is very bold, and it is generally seen as abnormal to wear it on a regular basis for everyday events. If someone is walking around with this eye-grabbing look, people are going to be drawn to them, and, consequentially, they are going to ask why they’ve chosen to frequent such an audacious appearance.

“Warriors” are given the excuse to look fierce and dismantle rape myths and victim blaming in one foul swoop.

On the Red My Lips website, Tansino explains what is wrong with the current system, and why she sees the need to change how society treats victims of sexual assault:
“We continue to convince ourselves that rape only happens to ‘those girls’ who ‘weren’t careful,’ ‘gave mixed signals,’ or ‘put themselves in a bad situation.’ This tendency to deny, shame, or blame survivors who come forward only serves to convince other survivors that they are wise to keep quiet, giving those who perpetrate these crimes free reign to continue doing so without consequence. Additionally, we frequently misunderstand rape and sexual assault as something provoked by uncontrollable sexual attraction or desire…instead of what it is: an act of domination, entitlement, and violence. This mentality was echoed in the infamous statement made by a Toronto police officer in 2011, when he said, “Women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized,” which triggered worldwide protests known as ‘Slutwalks.’

Red My Lips combines a core message of Slutwalk with the campaign format of MOvember to promote the idea that: The problem does not lie with tight or revealing clothes, makeup, or ‘letting your guard down.’ The problem lies with one person’s DECISION to overpower and violate the body and spirit of another. And until we acknowledge and address this reality, the worldwide pandemic of sexual violence will continue.

Wearing red lipstick in April allows supporters to speak out against these damaging myths and victim-blaming attitudes. It allows us all to stand in solidarity with survivors and refuse to be invisible…refuse to be silent.”

Another organization working to combat victim blaming is Peace Over Violence. Each year, the community sponsors a campaign called Denim Day on a Wednesday in April. With over five million registered participants for this year’s upcoming event and sponsors such as Guess and Union Bank, Denim Day has gained quite a following approaching its 16th year.
According to the Denim Day website, the campaign was originally triggered by 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 her rapist 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.

Each year, this campaign encourages everyone from college students to elected officials to squeeze into their favorite tight jeans to raise awareness and show solidarity for sexual assault victims.

This sexual violence prevention education campaign is scheduled for April 29th in 2015.

This is a formal invitation to all you warriors out there to put on your favorite jeans and slap on your boldest lipstick this Wednesday.