Rape. Murder. Violence. Incest. Sexual Harassment. Lies. Deception. Hate. Anger. Welcome to the real world. On May 20-22 UCLA held what is called the clothesline project. Victims of sexual violence hung shirts on clotheslines around Schoenberg quad. The T-shirts depict visual images as well as literal commentaries of experiences undergone by victims of sexual assault.
Over a thousand shirts hung in the quad and sadly every inch of space was covered with these shirts. The bone chilling experiences that these poor souls endured was enough to make anyone hate the world we live in. The only question is Why? Why were these people hurt so badly? Shirts shout at you with anger when you read them. Lives ruined. Families destroyed.
The worst part was the color of the shirts. They told a story of their own, behind the words and images painted on the shirts by those that have endured the worst.
White: in memory of a loved one that was murdered or committed suicide as a result of sexual violence, Yellow/Beige: survivors of dating/domestic violence, Red/Pink: survivors of rape and/or sexual assault, Purple: for those sexually assaulted based on sexual orientation (gay, lesbian, transgender, etc.), Gray: survivors of gang rape, Black: survivors of sexual harassment, Blue/Green: survivors of incest/child sexual abuse, Orange: for those sexually assaulted because of race/ethnicity or perceived race/ethnicity, Brown: survivors of ritual abuse or tools of war, and Multi-colored: survivors of multiple forms of sexual abuse.
The clothesline project is here to help those that have been assaulted. To bear witness to survivors and remember those lost. We all want to believe that this never happens. Not in our world. We ignore it. We are selfish. If it doesn’t happen to us, it doesn’t happen at all. But not anymore.
On May 20 at UCLA eyes were opened to the fact that if we don’t take action and come up with a solution to the problem, we are just as bad as those committing the crimes. People’s lives have been ruined because our society has a closed eye to the world around us.
A shirt hung by a student of Santa Cruz states that her rape wasn’t investigated because the school didn’t want their crime statistic to rise, so that they would get more students and more money. Other victims were mad at family members because they closed their eyes when their dad or uncle would take them into another room. Trust was violated when adults took away the innocence of childhood.
The shirts came in all sizes. The worst part were the white pajamas of a toddler. There were no words written on this pair of pajamas. The color and size was enough. This is the reality we live in. This is our world and something must be done. The only question left is Why are there so many shirts hanging in this quad?
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