Aiming to give a voice to victims of sexual assault, the Sexual Assault Response and Prevention Program plans to hang a clothesline in the middle of the University of Denver’s campus during Sexual Assault Awareness Week, April 9-13.
The Clothesline Project takes T-shirts created by students at various locations on campus and hangs them on a clothesline to give a visual representation to the issue of sexual assault.
Students can decorate the free T-shirts anonymously at the Health and Counseling Center and the Center for Student Life leading up to the event.
Depending on the relationship of sexual assault, students can color-code their T-shirt for purpose of demonstration.
Both male and female students are encouraged to participate, as well as friends and relatives of sexual assault victims.
The T-shirts will then be hung on the lawn in front of the School for Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management south of Penrose Library.
They will remain outdoors for the full week, from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. daily.
Last year, the Clothesline Project’s premiere at DU consisted of 16 or 17 T-shirts.
The Sexual Response and Prevention program, in coordination with Rape Awareness and Gender Education (RAGE), Greek Leaders Against Sexual Assault and Men as Allies hope to draw more participants and T-shirts this year.
“Last year we had one T-shirt protesting the issue of sexual assault in Burma and another said ‘I was a virgin,'” said Lisa Ingarfield, the coordinator of the Sexual Response and Prevention Program. “It’s really any expression or design representing an experience with assault. It just gives people a voice. They are one of the groups most silenced by society. This allows them to express how they are feeling about an experience in a way that’s anonymous.”
According to Ingarfield, one in four women will be sexually assaulted while in college.
“It affects so many people on campus. Assault is incredibly prolific,” said Ingarfield. “People don’t report it because they don’t identify it as sexual assault. It’s as though they think, that’s what happens when you get drunk. Using, ‘Oh, I was drunk’ is not an excuse.”
Ingarfield said that sexual assault is defined as any act of sex where the actor has not obtained consent from the other person.
In Colorado, if one party is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, that person may not be able to give consent.
“In Layman’s terms, if you know that the person you are trying to have sex with is drunk, don’t have sex with them,” said Ingarfield. “They can’t give consent.”
The Sexual Assault Awareness Week will host multiple events from April 9-13.
Hands are Not For Hurting is planned all week for Driscoll Bridge, giving students a chance to make handprints in support of ending sexual violence.
Driscoll Gallery will host a Sexual Assault Awareness Exhibit, and Take Back the Night is scheduled for Wednesday, April 11 at 7:30 p.m.
For further information about the week or for questions about how to create T-shirts, visit http://www.du.edu/studentlife/Sexual_Assault/SAAW.htm.
