| Show The be Human Side A Visit With The Reality Of Abuse By Janell Ross Contributing Writer During October 6 4 Salt Lake Community College College College Col Col- lege became home to The Clothesline Project a public display designed to increase community awareness about violence towards women The display display display dis dis- dis- dis play has been constructed by individual abuse victims victims victims vic vic- vic vic- tims in the Salt Lake area and includes comments such as I will overcome I feel so guilty liar survivor screaming pain The display consisted of clotheslines loaded down with t-shirts t and strung across the lounge of the College Center at Redwood campus Each shirt portrayed an individual womans woman's experience with abuse The color of each shirt represented the type of abuse the individual suffered The colors ranged from white representing those who died as a result of abuse to colors representing physical sexual and emotional abuse Each of the shirts in the display were made by survivors located in the Salt Lake area In the background of the display could be heard hearda a constant sounding of gongs and whistles These were to represent more of the statistical aspect of the display The gong that rang every nine seconds symbolized every time a women in the United States was battered The whistle that blew in three minute intervals represented each time a women was raped There was also a bell that rang four times each day dayto to represent the women that died that day as a result of abuse The project was sponsored by Health Wellness Services combined with the Gender Equity Center Christina Kemeny who works in the Gender Equity Center has been involved with The Clothesline Project in other areas and is responsible for its sojourn here The purpose e of the project she says is two fold first to educate the community about all types of abuse aDuse And second to be used as a healing tool to those victims of abuse Kemeny explained that the display really hits home providing a more visual picture of abuse than any amount of statistics could It also presents women of abuse a chance to expose their horrific experiences with abuse They are given a voice a chance to vent rather than keep their emotions bottled bottled bottled bot bot- up inside T-shirts T were made available at the display for those who wished to add their experience ence to the ones being shared The Clothesline Project began in October of 1990 as a part of a grassroots movement that start start- ed in It has since grown to include over individual individual individual indi indi- vidual community projects projects projects pro pro- spanning 41 states and five coun coup tries The display that visited is one of the five located throughout Utah |
