Members of our community wore denim on Wednesday to help raise awareness for the issue of sexual violence and assault. The denim clothing represents a protest against an Italian court case in 1999 when a woman was blamed for her rape because she was wearing tight jeans.
Channel 2 News spoke with a mother whose child was sexually abused and how movements like this one helped her and her family survive their heartache.
April Romo tells us her son was sexually abused two years ago by a person she says she least expected. The horrible act done to her child still hurts her family to this day.
"My 5-year-old son had been sexually abused by a family member. My son had reported it to us after he had tried to commit the same act with another child,” said Romo.
April and her husband were in shock when they realized their son had been sexually assaulted so they immediately took action to help their child. And she says it's important to trust your instincts as a mother.
"Trust your children, talk with your children about what is right and what is wrong. If in doubt, have your children talk to someone they feel safe with,” said Romo.
People like the Sexual Assault Response Advocates, otherwise known as S.A.R.A were able to help. They provide comfort and support for victims of sexual assault.
"It may take only a few minutes to actually hurt someone, but the process will take a long time,” said Traci Trenoweth with S.A.R.A.
The S.A.R.A program in Carson City says that they have a number of resources available to victims to get through the process.
"We have the resources to sit with clients while they're going through their process making a police report, talking and doing their interview with detectives, going for the sexual assault exam in Reno whether it's an adult or a child,” said Trenoweth.
And on Wednesday, the S.A.R.A program held a city wide event to start the conversation about sexual assault and violence, over a cup of coffee. They gave out over 800 denim sleeves for people who purchased their coffee at certain coffee shops in Carson City.
But local advocates say they not only want to raise awareness over this issue, but also want people to know that women shouldn't be victimized for what they wear, a common accusation.
"It's always you shouldn't have been there, you shouldn't have worn what you're wearing, you should have known better to have been walking home late at night. And you should have known better not to wear a short skirt because you were just inviting someone to rape you. And that's not the case,” said Lisa Lee with the Advocates to End Domestic Violence.
Women are not the only ones who can become victims of sexually assault. That's why April wants to become an advocate like the many people who helped her and her family during their struggle.
"I want to give back what they gave to me,” said Romo.
