Scott BresslerAs students pass through Mallinckrodt Center this week, they will notice dozens of t-shirts hanging inside the building. The display, titled the Clothesline Project, has been designed and decorated by survivors of rape and sexual assaults.
The Clothesline Project is part of Washington University’s annual Sexual Assault Awareness Week, sponsored by the Committee Organized for Rape Education (CORE). The week’s events focus on breaking the myths about rape and sexual assault and raising general awareness of sexual assault.
More than 100 students attended Take Back the Night on Monday, an event in which women march through the streets as a symbol for reclaiming the streets as a safe place for both women and children after dark. Following the march, students gathered for Speak Out, an intimate discussion of why participants chose to march.
“When people do things in large groups, they start to care about the issues,” CORE member Jen Hau said. “[Take Back the Night] is a combination of interaction, fun and excitement and making the issues personal. Then, Speak Out can be really intense and touching.”
An informal panel discussion entitled “Sexual Assault on the Margins” was scheduled to take place today, but was cancelled because the lead speaker could not attend.
On Thursday, a lecture called “Cycles of Poverty and Sexual Assault” will be held at 8 p.m. at Ursa’s. The lecture will discuss the link between poverty and sexual assault and how that link affects police responses.
“People don’t want to think that [sexual assault] exists or is out there in the Wash. U. bubble. We want to make Wash. U. an open forum for this issue,” Hau said. “Maybe jarring people out of their complacency is a good thing. I think it really does say something about how our school is sometimes reluctant to talk about issues [like these].”
Many sorority members attended Take Back the Night.
“We’ve always kind of encouraged people to go to it. We already have members who are involved with SARAH and CORE, so if our members don’t go with our sorority, they often go with other groups,” Pi Beta Phi President and junior Jessica Wasserman said.
Despite the large attendance of female students at Sexual Assault Awareness Week, Hau emphasizes the fact that sexual assault is an issue not limited to only women.
“We try to market it as not just a women’s issue. [Sexual assault affects] one in four women and one in 10 men,” Hau said. “Not only are they survivors, but they have friends, sisters, mothers. Lots of people come in support.”