The Support Center in Okanogan will observe Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Child Abuse Prevention Month during April and National Crime Victims’ Rights Week April 13-19, according to Glenda Freel, director.
     Support Center staff will be on the radio April 9 at 8:30 a.m. to kick off their activities.
     At 7 p.m. Monday, April 14, the Support Center will host a candlelight vigil in honor of crime victims. The event is co-sponsored by the Okanogan County Prosecutor's Office.
     April 23 is Denim Day in the United States. The day started 10 years ago in protest of an Italian Supreme Court decision, according to Freel.
     The court overturned a rape conviction because the justices reasoned the victim must have helped her attacker remove her jeans because they were "tight," thereby implying her consent, according to Freel. After the decision, women in the Italian Parliament protested by wearing jeans to work the next day.
     Denim Day and wearing jeans in April became an international symbol of protest of harmful attitudes about rape, Freel said.
     More information is available at 826-3221 or 1 (888) 826-3221.