S.A.F.E., Inc. is please to announce that our “Jeans for Justice” traveling display will find a home at the Lee County Library for the month of May! Jeans painted with messages about violence have been created by residents of the northeast Mississippi from a wide variety of backgrounds and age groups in conjunction with our annual “Jeans for Justice” fund-raiser. The jeans reflect the individual artists’s feeling about violence in our community. Some jeans honor victims of violent crime, others state facts and statistics, and other send a message of hope. New jeans will be being created all day at Tupelo Fairpark on Friday, April 9th , and Saturday April 10th at the Tupelo Balloon Festival. The entire display will move to the Lee County Library starting May 1st!

Each year, businesses make donations to their local rape crisis centers in exchange for allowing their staff to wear jeans to work on that day. Each participating business receives a poster to display in their office which will provoke discussion and education around the issue of sexual assault. The purpose of the poster is to provide a fixture to spark discussion for employees “around the water cooler” so to speak on the issues of sexual assault and the judicial system.

Click here for a little background on the cause.

If you or your workplace in is interested in participating:

• We encourage people to wear jeans to work on Friday April 9th & make a donation to S.A.F.E. Inc. To get your workplace involved please download this form, email sonja_safe@comcast.net or call (662) 841-9138.
• We create and display mobile art exhibits of decorated jeans throughout the community. We anticipate being on the Fairpark Lawn Friday April 9, 2010 & at the Tupelo Ball0on Festival Saturday April 10th, 2010. If you would like to create a pair of jeans for this project or donate a pair of jeans for someone else to paint, please call our Community Educator, Mary Katherine Spencer, at 841-9138.

Here are some “Jeans for Justice” created at the Tupelo Women’s Club

Jeans for Justice Painting Party on March 14th

S.A.F.E., Inc.  gives HUGE thanks to Mrs. Paige Mitchell of the Tupelo Women’s Club for hosting the

“Jeans for Justice Painting Party” on March 14th.

Tupelo Womens’ Club will be hosting a

Jeans for Justice Painting Party on Sunday, March 14th.

The Tupelo Women’s Club is partnering with S.A.F.E., Inc. to raise awareness of about the problem of sexual in the community and the world by hosting a “Jeans for Justice” paint party this Sunday.

Children and adults are invited to decorate jeans at the paint party.

The event will be held from 2PM-5PMm at 3089 Plantation Circle.

Participants are encouraged to bring jeans for painting.

A raffle prize will be given to a paint party participant.

For more information contact Paige Mitchell by email paige@mitchellcompanies

or call Jennifer Strunk at (662) 687-2169 or strunkjenn@yahoo.com.

 

Friday, April 9th 2010 is S.A.F.E.’s  ”Jeans for Justice” Day!

Each year, businesses make donations to their local rape crisis centers in exchange for allowing their staff to wear jeans to work on that day. Each participating business receives a poster to display in their office which will provoke discussion and education around the issue of sexual assault. The purpose of the poster is to provide a fixture to spark discussion for employees “around the water cooler” so to speak on the issues of sexual assault and the judicial system.

Here’s a little background on the cause:

In 1999, a judge in Italy overturned the 1998 rape conviction of a 45 year-old driving instructor who had been convicted of raping his 18-year-old student. A lower court had sentenced the defendant to 2 years and eight months in prison but the appeals court sent the case back for retrial and a higher court overturned the ruling on the basis of what
the victim was wearing. The higher court ruled that it is impossible to take off tight pants such as jeans “without the cooperation of the person wearing them”, and said it was impossible if the victim is struggling. The court also doubted the testimony of the victim because she waited several hours to tell her parents she had been attacked.

Following the ruling, a group of female Italian lawmakers wore jeans to parliament. This action prompted women all over Italy to join in a “skirt strike” and wear jeans. Female TV personalities known for chic dress began to don only denim. A housewives’
federation offered a prize to any designer who could come up with “easy off jeans” and planned a jean march to the justice ministry. Union Official Stefania Sidoli said, “We thank the court for having enriched women’s wardrobes with a new garment. To the business suit and the little black dress, we can now add the anti-rape outfit: a comfortable and resistant pair of jeans.”
Protests have now gone global and are currently taking place today in the form of “Jeans for Justice.”

S.A.F.E., Inc.  takes part in “Jeans for Justice” in two ways:

• We encourage people to wear jeans to work on Friday April 9th & make a donation to S.A.F.E. Inc. To get you worplace involved please email sonja@safe_comcast.net or call (662) 841-2273)
• We create and display mobile art exhibits of decorated jeans throughout the community. We anticipate being on the Fairpark Lawn Friday April 9, 2010 & at the Tupelo Ball0on Festival Saturday April 10th, 2010.

Teens (ages 13-18) can create an original Callout Card design that tells what they think is cool, or not cool, in a relationship.

Submissions will be judged based on originality, creativity, and campaign relevance.

Follow this link for more information!

http://www.thatsnotcool.com/contest/

Pearl High School Students Compete to Design Slogan for Teen Dating Violence Initiative

Click here to see a news story about this!

February 23 2010

Contact: Jan Schaefer, Public Information Officer
601/359.2002

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Jackson, MS– The Attorney Generals Office is sponsoring an art contest at Pearl High School in order to design a slogan for the Teen Dating Violence Prevention Initiative, announced Attorney General Jim Hood today.

Pearl High School was chosen as a pilot school for the teen dating violence initiative. As part of the pilot program, Pearl High School Art students are participating in an art contest to design the official slogan for the Teen Dating Violence Prevention Initiative. The judging will take place on Wednesday February 24, 2010, at 10:30am in the Pearl High School Commons. Judges currently lined up for the event include Attorney General Jim Hood; Sandy Middleton, Executive Director of the Center for Violence Prevention; Kathy Dear, Executive Director of the Pearl Chamber of Commerce; Ginger Williams-Cook, Art Educator at the Mississippi Museum of Art; Heather Wagner, Director of the Attorney Generals Domestic Violence Division; Patti Marshall, Director of the Attorney Generals Crime Prevention/Victim Services Division; and local artists Kelly Varner and Meredith Wilkaitis.

“It is our hope that we can help curb this growing epidemic by getting students involved in preventing teen dating violence,” said Attorney General Jim Hood. “I look forward to seeing the winning slogan and incorporating this initiative in schools around the state.”

Throughout February, which is Teen Dating Violence Awareness month, teachers at Pearl High School have been incorporating teen dating violence awareness messages in their lesson plans.

Other pilot schools include Corinth High School and Stone County High School. The hope is to eventually implement similar programs in high schools across the state. The schools efforts will be evaluated through surveys by the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Mississippi Coalition Against Sexual Assault.