The Clothesline Project Comes to PC

I went to a couple of great events last week that have a ton to do with women: "The Clothesline Project" and "Take Back the Night."  I'm going to talk about that second event later this week.

So, a couple of girls from my Women's Studies class put on a great event called "The Clothesline Project Comes to PC."  The Clothesline Project was started in 1990 out of Cape Cod, MA, by a small group of women.  They wanted to find a way to educate others about violence against women.  They were startled by the staggering statistics on the problem, and wanted a more direct way to communicate how big the problem is and its consequences to others.

The concept is simple and pretty great.  They wanted women to be able to tell their own stories of sexual violence - so they gave the women a T-shirt and had them decorate it with words or artwork, each telling her own story.  The organization has had huge success - there are over 500 projects and about 50,000 to 60,000 shirts.  

The shirts are color-coded:

• White - women who died because of violence
• Yellow and beige - battered or assaulted women
• Red, pink, and orange - survivors of rape and sexual assault
• Blue and green - survivors of incest and sexual abuse
• Purple and Lavender - women attacked because of their sexual orientation
• Black - women attacked for political reasons

Anyways, I think that the event at PC was a huge success.  It was really eye-opening to see the real stories of women who suffered this kind of violence - the personal stories really hit home, much more than statistics.

Here was one of my favorites, a story of survival and hope:

If you're interested in creating a T-shirt, starting a project, or just learning some more, here's the link!

P.S.  Awesome job Brittany and Mabelle!