By Linh Tat
Daily Bruin Staff
Recognizing that abuse is non-discriminatory, several campus
groups are raising awareness about sexual violence this week
through the Clothesline Project and “Take Back the
Night.”
“We are tired of hearing about rape and domestic
violence,” said Robin McDonald of the Sexual Assault Crisis
Agency in Long Beach, which contributed shirts to the Clothesline
Project.
“The project moves people to a place where they realize
they can be a part of the solution,” she continued.
The Clothesline Project ““ a national project established
in Massachusetts in 1990 that displays T-shirts of survivors of
sexual violence ““ has been up at Dickson Plaza since Tuesday
and will remain on display through today.
Besides the Clothesline Project, “Take Back the
Night” is expected to draw a large crowd, organizers said.
The rally will start at 6 p.m. today in Westwood Plaza and will end
with speeches and musical performances near Sunset Village.
“The rally march is not just about the issues we face as
women, but about safety issues,” said Dani de Jesus, a
fifth-year psychology and political science student and the
events’ co-chair.
“It’s symbolic of people coming together to say the
night is ours and that we shouldn’t be afraid,” she
continued.
All events are sponsored by the UCLA Clothesline Project; Office
of Residential Life; Women’s Resource Center; and the
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center.
After three years of hosting the event, this is the first year
the Clothesline Project was recognized as a student organization at
UCLA. Organizers said they are pleased that the event is growing
each year.
“The display is more powerful than ever because the bigger
you get, the harder it is to ignore the problem,” said Dawn
M. Bond, project adviser.
About 350 of the 1,200 shirts on display were designed by UCLA
students, professors or faculty members. The other shirts were
brought in from Los Angeles County and SACA.
The colors of the shirts represent the different forms of sexual
violence. For example, the white shirts were designed by people
whose loved ones were murdered as a result of sexual or gender
violence. Red, pink and orange shirts represent survivors of date
rape or sexual assault. Purple shirts represent those attacked for
being part of the LGBT community. Blue and green shirts symbolize
survivors of incest or child sexual abuse.
“This is for survivors to come forward and validate
what’s happened to them,” said Sharon Ngo, a
fourth-year international development studies student and co-chair
of the project. “For some, this is the first time
they’ve acknowledged what’s happened.”
For Aniko Toth, a fifth-year world arts and cultures student who
recently lost a friend who was sexually abused as a child, the
project allows survivors to begin the healing process.
“Even though it’s painful, it’s a beginning
point for people to have a forum to express themselves,” Toth
said, with a tear streaming down her cheek. “It’s very
courageous for survivors to allow others to share in their
pain.”
The Clothesline Project attracted the attention of some
professors, who decided to hold their classes outside in the quad
among the shirts.
By acknowledging the challenges students bring with them to the
university, professors can begin to see a student not only as a
scholar, but as a person as a whole, McDonald said.
The week’s events began with “An Angel Cried a Tear
Last Night,” a one-woman, one-act play based on the
experiences of actress Amy Marschak, who is with the Human Theater
Company in Colorado.
The “angel” was Marschak as a young girl who cried
at night after being raped.
Marschak said she wants people to realize there are healthy ways
to deal with the trauma of abuse.
“Believe in yourself. No one’s crazy. If someone is
depressed, they’re depressed for a reason,” Marschak
said. “There’s hope and healing for
survivors.”
For more information about the Clothesline Project, write to
[email protected].