By Survivors and victims openly displayed their feelings about sexual and domestic violence at The Clothesline Project and Take Back the Night rally held on campus Wednesday.
The Clothesline Project was a visual display of T-shirts hung on a clothesline that survivors of different types of violence decorate. The YWCA Greater Los Angeles founded the project in 1993 to encourage women to break the silence about violence against women.
“It’s really important to know that when assault is kept silent, that’s when the cycle continues,” Sexual Assault Victim’s Advocate Candis Simmons-Davis said, “When the silence is broken that’s when the violence can stop, and survivors can get help.
Each T-shirt color on the line symbolizes a different type of abuse.
Yellow and beige represented women who survived domestic violence. Red, pink and orange shirts were for those that survived rape and sexual assault. Blue and green represented the ones that have survived incest and sexual abuse, while purple and lavender T-shirt represented those that were targeted because of their sexuality. Black and gray shirts were made to honor both women and men who survived gang rape.
White T-shirts represented the people who have died because of the violence.
“Most victims feel isolated, ashamed and terrified to report or get counseling, but when they do speak up they learn that they are not alone and can get the healing they need,” Simmons-Davis said.
According to the Sexual Assault Victim’s Advocate pamphlet, one in five college women are sexually assaulted and one and six men are sexually assaulted in their lifetime.
“I think it’s absurdly common on campus when it shouldn’t [be],” junior psychology major Nizza Laurencio said. “Since some sexual violence does occur on campus, like the dorms, there should be more awareness to stop it.”
Students on campus and the community also participated in Take Back the Night rally. Take Back the Night is a biannual event held on campus to talk about sexual assault and ways to prevent it.
The event featured many skit performances by InterACT and guest speakers from both the YWCA Greater Los Angeles and CSULB’s Women’s and Gender Equity Center.
Participants peacefully marched from the Maxson Plaza to the Antatol Center shouting chants like, “Yes means yes and no means no, however we dress and wherever we go.”
InterACT also got the audience to participate and brainstorm ideas about how to deal with consent through a skit in which a girl was sexually assaulted.
“It’s sad that a lot girls have to look over their shoulders consistently because of this violence toward them,” junior psychology major Alex Miramontes said. “More events like these should be done to protect them.”
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and the Women’s and Gender Equity Center on campus wanted students to get involved by presenting these two events.
