For many students, emotions run high as they walk through
Schoenberg Quad this week and see a colorful display that carries a
somber meaning.
UCLA’s Clothesline Project is displaying decorative
T-shirts in commemoration of both victims and survivors of sexual
and gender violence. The display began Tuesday and will continue to
run through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m.
The Clothesline Project is a non-partisan feminist student
organization composed of approximately 40 students, whose goal is
to stop gender-based violence and other hate crimes in their
community.
The annual spring Clothesline Project displays expressive and
emotional shirts created by survivors of sexual assault.
The project first began in 1990 by Cape Cod Women’s Agenda
in Massachusetts with 30 shirts and was brought to UCLA in 1998 by
Robin McDonald. It has now become a national project.
Stephanie Joynt, who is in charge of organizing the Clothesline
Project, said the Clothesline display “provides a safe space
for dialogue” for anyone who has ever experienced such a
crime.
According to the project, making a shirt provides aid in the
healing process for survivors.
Each shirt, color-coded for different types of violence, tells
the emotional story of a survivor or is in memory of victim. There
are currently about 200 shirts hanging from clotheslines in
Schoenberg Quad.
The shirts are from members of the UCLA community and outside
sources such as the Santa Monica Treatment Center and the Long
Beach Sexual Assault Crisis Agency.
The Clothesline Project also sponsors “Take Back the
Night,” which is a culmination of the three-day display.
Participants gather at Schoenberg Quad and then march to De Neve
Plaza from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The event will showcase speakers, poets and a candlelight vigil
where survivors will have a chance to speak out about their
experiences. Musical guests will include Tony Lucca, Jenni Alpert
and UCLA-based Raining Jane.
Event organizers said “Take Back the Night” provides
a chance for community members to come together and support one
another in the fight against sexual and gender violence.
The Clothesline Project and “Take Back the Night”
are part of Women for Change Week, a collection of women-oriented
events taking place this week all over campus.
Trisha Herschfelt, a third-year sociology student, said she
walked by the hanging T-shirts and at first did not know what they
were for ““ until she read them, and began to tear.
Graduate student Gretchen Heidemann has volunteered for
Clothesline Project before and feels the location of the display is
perfect because it is visible to all.
“Its really nice to see an organization that lets people
know that this is happening and that people do live after the
abuse,” she said.
Past events put on by the Clothesline Project include sexual
violence awareness training, which took place during winter
quarter. The project encompassed a 40-hour intensive training
session that provided students with the tools needed to counsel
sexual violence victims.
Students interested in getting involved can visit
www.uclacp.homestead.com, or contact the Clothesline Project at
uclacp@ucla.edu.