Sexual Abuse Awareness Week: breaking the silence
Smith College Seniors Nikki Gagnon and Jen LaBarbera
"The Clothesline Project (CLP) was first started on Cape Cod in 1990 to address the issue of violence against women. It is a vehicle for women affected by violence to express their emotions by decorating a shirt. They then hang the shirt on a clothesline to be viewed by others as testimony to the problem of violence against women.
Smith’s first CLP was in 1994, and the clothesline now holds over 400 shirts, made by Smith students, faculty, staff, prospective students, and other members of the community. Anyone in the community is welcome to make a shirt while the Project is up.
Bearing witness to the shirts is also bearing witness to violence against women, and to the pain of your fellow community members. Please be respectful."
