Jeans were put on display March 12 for Iowa State students, faculty and staff to sign in protest of a rape ruling made by an Italian judge.

A 45-year-old man’s rape conviction was overturned February in Italy when the judge ruled that since the 18-year-old victim was wearing jeans at the time of the alleged assault, the defendant could not have removed them without her consent.

The Ames/ISU YWCA at 15 Alumni Hall and the Margaret Sloss Women’s Center both laid out jeans for the community to sign as part of an international protest against the ruling.

Julie Wooden, sexual assault awareness coordinator for the women’s center, called the event a success.

“I know that we filled up several pairs of jeans between the two locations,” she said.

Wooden, graduate student in interdisciplinary graduate studies, estimated about 100 signatures were gathered. However, she said it was mostly women who participated in the signing.

“I would say a majority of the signatures were from women, but there were some men who came in,” she said, noting that there were about four times as many signatures from women.

The jeans still are available for signing at the Sloss House and Alumni Hall, Wooden said.

Jehan Faisal, program coordinator for the YWCA and Take Back the Night Rally, agreed that the event had a good turnout.

“We actually had to get more jeans since so many people came in to sign [them],” she said.

After the Take Back the Night Rally, which will be held in April, the jeans will be sent to the Italian Parliament.

Wooden said the purpose of sending the jeans to Italy is twofold.

“We hope to raise awareness about rape, and primarily [about] some of the myths that our society still holds about sexual assault,” she said. “And also just to protest the ruling that the parliament made.”

Faisal, senior in English, said when the jeans are sent to the Italian Parliament, they will be accompanied by a statement.

“It’ll basically just talk about how the whole Iowa [State] community has signed these jeans as a protest,” she said.

Wooden said she hopes the signing made in impact on people.

“Even if we raised awareness or changed the mind of one person that day, it would be successful,” she said.