T-shirts tell a tale
Lauren Sieben - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 4/24/08 Section: Metro
Multicolored shirts were on display on the UI Pentacrest on Wednesday, but not to make a fashion statement.
The Rape Victim Advocacy Program's Iowa City Clothesline Project displayed the T-shirts to bear witness to violence against women. RVAP started the project in 1995.
Survivors of sex crimes as well as the friends and family of women who did not survive designed the shirts. Alondra Canizal, RVAP prevention education coordinator, said the project has collected slightly more than 100 shirts in the past several years.
Shirts were differentiated by color - white for women who died because of violence, yellow or beige for battered or assaulted women, red, orange, or pink for survivors of rape or sexual assault, green and blue for survivors of incest or child abuse, and purple or lavender for women attacked because of their sexual orientation.
"It's an awesome visual and a good way to learn more about domestic assault and violence and all these other crimes in a very informal way, without having to work too hard to find out about other peoples' experiences," Canizal said.
The project also included sounds indicating an incident of violence against women. Every nine seconds a gong sounded to represent a woman in the United States being battered, every two minutes a whistle blew to represent an incident of sexual assault, and a bell rang once to represent the three to four women killed every day by a batterer.
"April is Sexual Assault Awareness month, so we have several events throughout the month, and this is one of our biggest ones," Canizal said. "To create awareness is our main goal, but also to show that we're here for survivors."
The UI Global Health Club and UI College of Public Health Student Association co-sponsored the event. UI senior Abi Struck-Marcell said that the Global Health Club participated in the event because it shared common goals with the Clothesline Project.
"Sexual assault and domestic violence are really important issues that relate to the health of all people," she said. "Because we're about a broader sense of health, that really worked into our goals as a club."
Canizal said that RVAP collects shirts year-round and displays them at community events in addition to the annual Clothesline Project. RVAP also sponsored its Silent Witness event in the Pentacrest April 4 to kick off Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The Clothesline Project is RVAP's final event of the month.
E-mail DI reporter Lauren Sieben at:
lauren-sieben@uiowa.edu
The Rape Victim Advocacy Program's Iowa City Clothesline Project displayed the T-shirts to bear witness to violence against women. RVAP started the project in 1995.
Survivors of sex crimes as well as the friends and family of women who did not survive designed the shirts. Alondra Canizal, RVAP prevention education coordinator, said the project has collected slightly more than 100 shirts in the past several years.
Shirts were differentiated by color - white for women who died because of violence, yellow or beige for battered or assaulted women, red, orange, or pink for survivors of rape or sexual assault, green and blue for survivors of incest or child abuse, and purple or lavender for women attacked because of their sexual orientation.
"It's an awesome visual and a good way to learn more about domestic assault and violence and all these other crimes in a very informal way, without having to work too hard to find out about other peoples' experiences," Canizal said.
The project also included sounds indicating an incident of violence against women. Every nine seconds a gong sounded to represent a woman in the United States being battered, every two minutes a whistle blew to represent an incident of sexual assault, and a bell rang once to represent the three to four women killed every day by a batterer.
"April is Sexual Assault Awareness month, so we have several events throughout the month, and this is one of our biggest ones," Canizal said. "To create awareness is our main goal, but also to show that we're here for survivors."
The UI Global Health Club and UI College of Public Health Student Association co-sponsored the event. UI senior Abi Struck-Marcell said that the Global Health Club participated in the event because it shared common goals with the Clothesline Project.
"Sexual assault and domestic violence are really important issues that relate to the health of all people," she said. "Because we're about a broader sense of health, that really worked into our goals as a club."
Canizal said that RVAP collects shirts year-round and displays them at community events in addition to the annual Clothesline Project. RVAP also sponsored its Silent Witness event in the Pentacrest April 4 to kick off Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The Clothesline Project is RVAP's final event of the month.
E-mail DI reporter Lauren Sieben at:
lauren-sieben@uiowa.edu
Be the first to comment on this story