Camille Rogine

Decorated t-shirts signify different kinds of sexual violence as a part of the Clothesline Project, which have lined the front of Parrish Hall this week.

BY ARIEL MARTINO

In print | September 25, 2008

The Clothesline Project is on display this week as a visual reminder of sexual violence and of the support network available to survivors. T-shirts decorated by both survivors and community members otherwise personally impacted by sexual violence currently hang on a clothesline in front of Parrish, different color t-shirts indicating different types of sexual violence.

The weeklong event began on Monday night with a powerful opening ceremony in which survivors either submitted or read pieces about their personal experiences with sexual violence. This year the shirts will hang until the closing ceremony on Thursday, Sept. 25.

Ally Grein ’10, the organizer of this year’s Clothesline Project, said that survivors benefit from the sense of community conveyed by the array of shirts. “I hope survivors are empowered by the fact that they are not alone. In reading the other shirts and attending the opening people can see survivors at different stages of the healing process, and it can be really comforting, I think, to know that there is a proverbial light at the end of the tunnel,” Grein said.

Students and other passersby who stop to look at the t-shirts are often powerfully impacted and confronted by the intensity of the messages that the makers have conveyed.

“As a first year, I’d never seen [the Clothesline Project] before, though I knew the basic idea behind it. Seeing it was pretty powerful — especially the contrast between stories in which the survivors are still damaged and then those in which survivors persevere and find self determination,” Dante Fuoco ’12 said.

The Clothesline Project was launched several years ago under the supervision of Assistant Dean and Gender Education Advisor Karen Henry ’87. In its first few years, the project was executed on a much smaller scale and only intermittently. However, in 2006, the project was revitalized by Veronica Lim ’07, Nicole Belanger ’08 and Patrick Rock ’09. Since then, the organizers of the event have been working to raise awareness about sexual violence and strengthen support for the community of survivors on campus.

“I am struck by how courageous the survivors are. I’m struck by their ability to talk about very painful experiences in public,” Henry said after witnessing the opening ceremony and viewing the displayed t-shirts. According to Henry, Counseling and Psychological Services as well as the Deans Office are providing additional services to students during this emotionally charged week.

It did not take long for the Clothesline Project to become embedded in campus culture, undergoing a few notable changes in recent years in the process. Last year, the project moved from the spring to the fall because the final semester of the year is considered by many students to be the most academically intense. Also, this year the campus fraternities Delta Upsilon and Phi Psi took responsibility for organizing the hand print pledge, in which participants make a symbolic commitment to prevent sexual violence by leaving their handprints on a sheet. The Clothesline Project Planning Committee has traditionally organized the pledge, but this year delegated the task to the two fraternities.

While the Clothesline Project’s primary objective is to provide an outlet and resource for the community of survivors, Henry said that all students — regardless of their experience with sexual violence — can benefit from the Project’s attempt to illuminate an issue that is not often discussed in such a public forum. “It’s an intense experience. People are sometimes shocked when they see their fellow students and members of the community being affected by these issues. It’s easier to imagine those kind of things happening to someone else, and not to Swarthmore students,” Henry said.

Although students who have not experienced sexual abuse may have difficulty identifying with survivors, Grein stressed the need for sensitivity to the community of survivors during a week that is emotionally challenging for many students.

“I hope non-survivors realize the types of issues facing some members of the Swarthmore community … To become more aware of these problems is the first step in changing the often hostile culture survivors face,” Grein said.

According to Henry, increasing a community’s awareness of sexual assault can prevent future acts of violence. “It’s important to remember that these things can happen to anybody. You have to take good care of yourself,” Henry.said.

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