Clothesline Project addresses domestic violence

Photo by Johnny Morris

The Women’s Success Center (WSC) at UVU organized the annual Clothesline Project, a visual display of t-shirts, to help promote awareness among students regarding domestic violence and sexual abuse. The two-day event was held Oct. 11-12 at the Grande Ballroom.

The Clothesline Project promotes awareness by displaying t-shirts created by survivors of domestic violence or sexual abuse. Survivors of domestic abuse and people who knew a victim were given the opportunity to create a t-shirt to be displayed for the public.

“I have been through a lot of treatment for my own type of sexual trauma, and I know plenty of people who are in the same boat as me. But being here, and seeing of all it, it really hits you more,” said Katherine Miller, a freshman student at UVU.

The event also included different organizations that work with victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse. Some of the organizations that were present were Bikers Against Child Abuse, Utah Domestic Violence Coalition, Children in Crisis, Center for Women and Children in Crisis, and the Division of Child and Family Services.

“We help woman who are fleeing from a domestic violence situation, and we also have rape crisis training,” said Marni Molina, an intern with the Center for Women and Children in Crisis.

Rebecca Cain, the events coordinator for the WSC, said, “There is this misconception that with the culture that we live in and with being in Utah Valley, we don’t necessarily deal with domestic violence; that domestic violence isn’t prevalent in our culture. Unfortunately, it actually is, and the numbers are actually showing that we have more domestic violence than most other states do.”

Cain also said that UVU is not doing enough to address the issue regarding domestic violence and would like to see the school do more to help students who have been victims:

“In my opinion, I think there needs to be more services available for students. I think we need more counseling and counseling centers specifically designated for rape, especially with what’s going on with BYU and the honor code. Female and male students don’t feel like that they can go and talk to the Title IX office,” Cain said.

According to the WSC website, the Clothesline Project was established in 1990 when the Cape Cod Women’s Defense Agenda learned that 51,000 women were killed during the Vietnam War in the United States as result of domestic violence. During the same time, 58,000 soldiers were killed during the Vietnam War.

The event is held twice a year, October in honor of Domestic Violence Awareness month, and in April in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness month.