‘Clothesline Project’ gives sexual assault victims a voice

Just eight T-shirts started the “Clothesline Project” 25 years ago, giving sexual assault survivors a platform to be heard.

So far, 1,500 Orange County voices have spoken without uttering a word. Messages on T-shirts are hung on clotheslines to tell unique stories of abuse, healing and forgiveness.

Wednesday, April 15, about 150 brightly colored shirts fluttered in the breeze at Cal State Fullerton for one day during Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

“I was 12. You raped me, but it does not define me” a bright blue shirt reads. “I forgive you.”

Each color denotes the type of crime. Blue represents child sexual abuse.

“When survivors share their experiences, they educate the community,” said Vanessa Reyna of Waymakers, a nonprofit Orange County organization that provides 24/7 rape crisis care.

“One in six women will experience sexual assault in their lifetime,” she said. “And also one in 33 men.”

Reyna is hopeful the statistics will get better. Allowing the sometimes graphic messages to be displayed is a sign of progress, Reyna said.

Brett Goldberg, who’s with advocacy group TitanHEALTH, TitanTHRIVE, said violence against women is normalized through cliches like, “Boys will be boys.”

“We need to spend less time teaching women how not to get raped and more time teaching boys and men not to rape,” he said.

Sexual violence crosses all identity markers, he said, affecting both women and men.

This was illustrated as a student slowly made his way along the clothesline of shirts, stopping and reading each one. He did not want to give his name, but said he was a victim of sexual assault.

“I’ve never told anyone,” he said.