A Closer Look: Project puts sexual violence out on the line
By Easter Khaw
May 15, 2006 9:00 p.m.
Hundreds of men and women at UCLA aren’t ashamed to hang
their laundry out for all to see. For some, hanging clothes may be
nothing more than a chore, but for others, it is a step toward
healing.
It’s all part of the UCLA Clothesline Project’s
annual display of T-shirts designed by and for victims of sexual,
gender-based and domestic violence.
This year’s display, themed “Agency Activism
Art,” will feature hundreds of color-coded shirts hanging in
Schoenberg Quad and sexual violence education workshops today
through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The display is part of the celebration of women’s
achievements called Women for Change Week, now in its sixth
year.
Though the week’s events focus on women, ever since the
Clothesline Project came to UCLA in 1998, “people of all
sorts” have turned up at the display, said Clothesline
executive co-chair Julie Siegel, a third-year psychology
student.
Fellow co-chair Alexis Flyer, who graduated last quarter, said
nearly equal numbers of men and women come to see the display each
year.
“It’s a very powerful display that really catches
you,” Flyer said. “A lot of people are really sad when
they see the shirts, which is understandable.”
Others who see the display are angry sexual violence has
affected so many, and some are uncomfortable, Flyer said.
Regardless of their reactions, those who come will find “a
safe space where survivors of sexual violence and allies come
together in solidarity to break the silence and raise awareness
about sexual violence,” according to the group’s Web
site.
The people who decorate shirts remain anonymous, as Clothesline
keeps no record of them, and they design their T-shirts in a
private area, Flyer said.
They can choose to put their first name or initials on their
design, but not their full name for legal reasons.
Siegel estimated that in past years, 1,000 to 2,000 people came
out to see the shirts hung out and design a few themselves during
the three-day display.
She stressed that all members of the community were welcome to
participate, not just UCLA students.
“We provide them with blank T-shirts; we provide
everything,” Siegel said. “(Eventually) half the quad
is shirts made by UCLA students.”
The UCLA chapter now boasts over 500 shirts, according to its
Web site. T-shirts can be made throughout the year as well as
during the spring display.
“You see a lot of different emotions (on the
shirts),” Flyer said. “Everyone comes from a different
place. … People heal differently.”
During the display, the Clothesline Project will put on several
workshops on sexual violence issues and education on domestic
violence. Counselors from the Santa Monica Rape Treatment Center
and the UCLA Center for Women & Men will be on site, Flyer
said, along with representatives from UCLA Clothesline Project, who
were trained to counsel victims who may want to come forward.
On the display’s final evening, Clothesline will host the
annual “Take Back the Night” rally “to resist
sexual violence and support survivors” in De Neve Plaza,
according to its Web site.
The rally, which will include various speakers and performers,
will begin at 5 p.m. and end with a candlelight vigil and a march
around Westwood from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The marchers will
travel from De Neve Plaza to the corner of Landfair and Gayley
avenues, then to the southern intersection of the two streets and
back up Gayley.
The national Clothesline Project started in 1990 when several
Cape Cod women’s groups wanted to bring the issue of violence
against women to light, according to its official Web site.
Inspired by the AIDS Memorial Quilt, which began three years
earlier, visual artist Rachel Carey-Harper proposed hanging
T-shirts on a clothesline to draw attention to the issue, as
laundry was considered women’s work.
The group estimated that there are now 500 Clothesline Projects
worldwide, in at least 41 states and five countries, with a total
of 50,000 to 60,000 shirts designed by victims or loved ones.
Public events such as the display and rally help “people
know that there is a support group here for them” and that
many others have been affected as well, Siegel said.
“Whether people know it or not, everybody has been
impacted one way or another by sexual violence,” Siegel said.
“There are people throughout the entire community who,
unfortunately have been impacted by sexual violence. It happens to
a lot more people than they think.”
For more information, visit the
Clothesline Project Web site at
www.laclotheslineproject.com or the Women for Change Week Web
site at www.women4change.ucla.edu.
