The Meramec Diversity Committee will host the Clothesline Project March 23-26 in the Library Quad at Meramec to bring awareness to domestic abuse.
Shane Rice
-Staff Writer –
Every minute of every day, a woman is raped in the U.S., and every 14 seconds a woman is battered, according to Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF). Also, according to the FVPF, nearly one in four women in the U.S. reports being abused by a current or former spouse/boyfriend at some point in her life and one out of every five women in their first four years of college will be sexually abused or raped.
“Violence against women in this country is at proportions that can’t be ignored anymore,” said Karen A. Olson, chairman for the STLCC-Meramec Diversity Committee and Coordinator for Early Care/Education.
The Meramec Diversity Committee will host the Clothesline Project March 23-26 in the Library Quad at Meramec to bring awareness to domestic abuse. Olson said that the goal is to show that abuse has to stop and that this behavior is not acceptable. This will be the first annual event with hopes to continue it in the future, Olson said.
“What’s going on in our culture that supports this abuse and allows this to happen to almost one half of our population? It’s a big problem that we need to address as a society,” Olson said.
The Clothesline Project was started in Cape Cod in 1990, by a small group of women that were interested in drawing attention to the violence against women in America. According to the Clothesline website, Rachel Carey-Harper was inspired by the movement of the AIDS quilt and suggested using shirts strung along a clothesline as a way to raise awareness about this abuse. The AIDS Memorial Quilt Project was created 1987 to increase awareness of HIV and AIDS.
Carey-Harper used this idea and made it unique by adding pictures and words with hopes that this process would help women heal and give them a way to tell their own story. The Clothesline Project has since grown from 31 shirts to more than 60,000 shirts across the nation with more than 500 projects worldwide.
Olson said anyone who wants to make a T-shirt is more than welcome, especially women.
“There will be private and public cubicles for female students and faculty to come and write their story on shirts that will be hung along the line for people to see, as well as, counselors and other resources for those still trying to heal,” Olson said.
Olson said that the goal of the project is to do something that would make people pause and notice how often this is going on in our society.
“Making the shirt is a form of empowerment for those who were victimized or abused,” Olson said. “There’s a fear fence that blocks us, in our lives, and we need to tear it down in order to be free.”
The diversity committee is not the only group on campus promoting awareness of domestic violence.
Donna Zumwinkel M.Ed., LPC and counselor at Meramec said that intent of The Clothesline Project is to raise awareness, but if a woman feels she needs more assistance with the healing process, there are several resources available for them.
“I would like to say to women who have experienced violence in their lives, it’s not their fault, and I know that you’re scared, but there is help available,” Zumwinkel said. “Reach out to someone and let them know you want help. We have a great counseling staff on campus that will listen and help deal with the pain and humiliation.”
Additional resources are also available for Meramec students, faculty and staff.
“We want to help people be aware of the problem and know that there are resources out there to help. Crisis lines, counselors, and TANF are just a few ways to escape the abuse,” said Zumwinkel. “There are all kinds of success stories where women have broken the cycle of abuse.”
