(no subject)
so yesterday the clothesline project(CLP) made its annual appearance on campus.
some history of the CLP:
it started in 1990, in Cape Code, MA. to raise awareness of domestic violence. The idea of depicting peoples stories on t-shirts hung on a clothesline represents the "airing out society's dirty laundry."
Each colored shirt represents something different.
White - for individuals who died as a result of violent acts
Yellow - for survivors of domestic violence and other forms of physical assault
Red, pink or orange - for survivors of rape or sexual assault
Blue or green - for survivors of incest or childhood sexual abuse
Purple or lavender - for individuals attacked due to (perceived) sexual orientation
Black - for individuals who became disabled as a result of an attack, or for those attacked because of a disability
Gray - for survivors of verbal and/or emotional abuse
Brown - for survivors of spiritual abuse
There are also sounds that go off at certain times to indicate how often violent acts occur.
A gong sounds every 10 seconds to mark that a woman is being battered.
The wistle blown every minute indicates a reported rape.
Only 1 in 10 female and 1 in 100 male rape victims report it to the police.
A bell is rung to represent a woman who had died as a result of personal violence. In the United States 3-4 women are killed by their lovers or husbands every day.
Here are some more statistics I found
RESEARCH INDICATES THAT:
Over 80% of teenage boys & girls report being sexually harassed at school.
1 in 12 women are stalked in their lifetime.
1 in 4 women will be raped in their lifetime.
1 in 10 boys is sexually assaulted by age 18.
At least 3 out of 4 rapes are perpetrated by someone known to the victim.
While men perpetrate approximately 90% of all serious violence, in 75% of the cases, men and boys are the victims of serious violence.
Teenage boys of all racial and ethnic groups are more likely to die from gunshot wounds than from all natural deaths combined (for their age group).
Domestic Violence is the leading cause of injury to women age 15 to 44 in the United States - more than car accidents, muggings and rapes combined.
Guess what eles. Happy Valley ain't so happy.
In Utah, victims of rape range from 2 months to 94 years old.
I broke down. Started crying in front of everybody and couldn't stop..
I don't know how people can be so unphased by this. There were people who were actually lauhging at some of the things people wrote on the shirts.
I stayed to listen to the guest speaker, Thelma Soares. Her daughter, Lori Hacking was murdered by her husband and dispossed of in the city dump. She (Thelma) lives around around the corner from me. When money was really tight a few years ago she gave me some of Lori's old clothes. I think I still have a shirt or two.
After her talk we held a candle-lit vigil in memory of Lori and all the victims of abuse.
Two hours later and I'm still crying.
then a guy with a camera asked if he could have my name. he was from the newspaper, and today...
my pic was in the news.
http://deseretnews.com/dn/1,3643,5,00.html
I still feel a heavy weight holding down my soul.