The California Coalition Against Sexual Assault is leading California's statewide protest against sexual violence, using jeans as a symbol of support for rape victims and to end the practice of blaming them.

``We urge Californians to not only wear jeans, but to also send signed jeans and letters to local, state and federal representatives to demonstrate support for anti-rape legislation,'' said the group's director Marybeth Carter.

The protest stems from an Italian ruling on appeal by an all-male panel of judges that said a pair of jeans could not be removed ``without the active help of the person wearing them'' and sent the case back to a lower court for re-trial.

The court said removing the jeans would be impossible if the wearer was struggling, and questioned why thevictim waited several hours to tell her parents that she had been attacked.

The ruling sparked outrage across Italy from female deputies, politicians, cultural groups and the press, while female lawmakers started a `no-skirt strike' in protest.

Katy Morris, of the Abuse Council and Treatment Centre in Fort Meyer, Florida, thought the ruling provided an opportunity to do something ``in a clear and simple way to draw attention to the fact that sexual assault happens.''

She has also backed having women send a pair of signed jeans to the Italian embassy in Washington. The line went dead after AFP asked for comment from the embassy.