Imagine walking through a hallway laughing and having fun with one of your friends when all of a sudden you hear a gong chime. Gong! Gong! Gong! Every 10 seconds that the gong is rung a woman is being abused.
In continuing celebrating awareness for sexual abuse and domestic violence, Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) held the Clothesline Project in Village Square on Oct. 12-16, remembering the victims and honoring the survivors of sexual and domestic violence.
The clothesline project started in Massachusetts in 1990. Different colored T-shirts painted by NEIU students were hung on a clothesline. Some of the t-shirts had pictures, others had words and some had both.
“They tell the story of victims, survivors and family members,” said Sheena Warren, director of Women’s Studies. For example, one shirt read “Once upon a time there was a little girl who wanted to be the biggest star in the whole wide world but then he came and he stole her spirit, her dreams, her body, her soul.”
Also, information regarding violence was given out. This included information on the different colored shirts. White represented murder or death; yellow, brown or beige signified assault or battery; pink, red or orange was for rape or sexual assault; green or blue for child sexual assault or incest; purple or lavender for homophobic violence and black for gang rape.
Warren believes this project helps women because of its visual art work, while also giving them an outlet to reflect. Students and staff look forward to the project annually, because it touches people in an intimate way.