April 5, 2017
Written by Meghan Marsden Parsche
Britny Helmrich vividly remembers the day her mom, Dawn Helmrich, had a panic attack at a crowded outdoor event. Britny was just ten years old but sensed something terrible had once happened to her mom. That day she learned that Dawn was the victim of a brutal sexual assault at age 21.
Dawn had worried for years about how to tell her kids what happened to her. She decided that day was the right time to tell Britny her story.
“She said the best thing in the world to me, and I knew this kid was going to be one heck of an advocate someday,” says Dawn. “She said, ‘Mom, why on earth would anyone ever do that to somebody else? There’s absolutely no way that would ever be okay.’ And I thought, ‘This kid gets it. This is something so critically important for humans to understand, and no one had to tell her. She just gets it.’”
Britny’s interest and involvement with sexual violence awareness immediately took off. Inspired by her mom’s story and work as a sexual assault awareness advocate, she organized her first Denim Day in seventh grade, the same year a short film had been made about Dawn. She asked her friends to participate in the film and encouraged people she knew to wear jeans.
The following year, participation grew. Britny handed out stickers at school and more than 50 students posed for a picture that year, proudly wearing denim in support of sexual assault awareness. “This is where it started getting exciting to me,” she says.
Determined to educate everyone at her school, Britny partnered with school staff. She created a Power Point presentation to promote awareness about sexual assault and Denim Day, which was shown to every student. That year, Britny handed out over 500 Denim Day stickers, and 90% of staff and students wore jeans on Denim Day.
Britny is now a 16 year-old high school sophomore. She’s partnering with school staff again this year to make this the biggest Denim Day event yet. Through her efforts, even more high schoolers will be reached, which Britny hopes will help end victim blaming and will give more victims the courage to speak up.
“I want everyone to learn that sexual assault is a relevant issue that needs awareness,” says Britny. “And I just really want people to have knowledge of what to do if they, their friend, or family member are harmed.”
Wear jeans on April 26, Denim Day, to show your support for sexual assault survivors and take a stand against victim blaming. Learn more by visiting Denim Day Milwaukee’s website and Facebook page.