Clothesline Project provides emotional outlet for sexual violence survivors

Colorful T-shirts with personal stories about sexual violence written on them hung from lines across Dickson Court Tuesday, marking the first day of the annual Clothesline Project.

The project is a public art display where survivors or anyone who has been affected by sexual violence can write their stories or messages against sexual abuse on T-shirts and hang the T-shirts for the campus to see.

The Undergraduate Students Association Council Student Wellness Commission puts on the event each year to commemorate survivors of sexual violence.

Different T-shirt colors represent different types of violence in the display. For example, red represents rape, while yellow represents domestic violence.

USAC Student Wellness Commissioner Savannah Badalich said the event aims to provide survivors a safe space where they can express anger, sadness or, in some cases, hope.

The point of the display is for it to be somewhere public so that it can disrupt something as simple as walking to class, Badalich said.

“You’re supposed to feel overwhelmed, so hopefully this sobers people who see it,” she said.

Chrissy Keenan, a third-year human biology and society student and co-director of the Bruin Consent Coalition, said the project originated in 1990 in Cape Cod, Mass. and eventually grew nationally to educate people about domestic violence against women. It started at UCLA in 1998.

The campaign originally focused on domestic violence against women, but now aims to educate communities about all sexual assault against both men and women, discrimination and incest, Keenan said.

Keenan said she thinks the project is a way to educate UCLA students and also silently protest against sexual assault.

“I signed up as a first-year and I was immediately blown away – I fell in love,” Keenan said.

The event will run until 4 p.m. on Thursday.

Compiled by Catherine Kidder, Bruin contributor.