UNIVERSITY NEWS | April marks the sixth year for LMU CARES to host Sexual Assault Awareness Month programming on campus including the annual Clothesline Project and Denim Day to bring a voice and empower the campus community.
Last week, the annual Clothesline Project display of t-shirts was out on Palm Walk to bring awareness and empower the campus community. Each t-shirt represents by someone who has been affected by sexual assault, and the shirts are displayed together to honor the experiences of survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, incest, child sexual abuse or violence due to sexual orientation. For Briana Maturi, director of LMU CARES The Clothesline Project has grown each year and remains essential to empower the campus community. “In the first and second years, we borrowed t-shirts from the Santa Monica Rape Treatment Center’s supply of shirts as well as two other universities who participate in this project,” said Maturi. “And by year three we had enough shirts created from our community.”
“The Clothesline Project is important because it is a visual representation of the voices and experiences of our community members around sexual assault and sexual harassment,” said Maturi. “Those voices are an important reminder to the rest of our community that we all need to be active in trying to change the culture.”
Meghan Jonikas ’15, a health and human sciences major, came to Maturi with the idea to start the Clothesline Project on campus six years ago. “I had a friend who experienced a sexual assault which was followed by quite a bit of victim blaming. I remember being with her the night she told me and the months following and being pretty enraged by it,” said Jonikas. “I knew I wanted to do something which could help her and others going through similar experiences and also educate others about gender-based violence and their stories.”
At the same time in one of Jonikas’ classes, a representative from the Santa Monica Rape Treatment Center gave a presentation that included examples of the Clothesline Projects they had been apart of at various organizations. “it was like a lightbulb moment for me,” said Jonikas. “I was also incredibly lucky to be at a school like LMU where I could get support from staff, faculty and other students to make it come to fruition. That was a pretty big point in my life that shaped my future for what I want to do as a physician.”
LMU CARES is also hosting Denim Day on Wednesday, April 24 with a call for community members to wear denim as a visible means of protest against myths surrounding sexual assault in our community. Denim Day began in Italy in the 90s, when a Supreme Court overturned a rape conviction stating that the victim’s jeans were too tight to take off without helping her perpetrator, and therefore must have been consensual sex. The next day, women in the Italian Parliament wore jeans in solidarity with the victim.
Denim Day now serves as a day of awareness to break down rape myths and stand for change in our communities. Help the Santa Monica Rape Treatment Center by donating for Denim Day here and wear jeans with a purpose.
For a full list of programs and events for Sexual Assault Awareness Month, click here.
