Students witnessed a blossoming of color on Greene Street and around campus Monday, as the T-shirts painted for Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention & Prevention's Clothesline Project were finally put up for display.
The Clothesline Project is one of the more visual events that SAVIP hosts for National Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Its purpose is to raise awareness for the victims and survivors of sexual and relationship violence and to offer them a fun but therapeutic environment in which to express themselves.
"I think we got a really good turnout," social work student and SAVIP intern Kristin Tanner said. Tanner and her co-worker, Janece Gough, have supervised the Clothesline Project activities at USC since they began in March.
This year, the shirt displays have stretched across campus with displays up by the Thomas Cooper Library and the School of Public Health.
"We had a lot of students stop by and participate over the weeks, and we also had a lot of people have painting parties, where sometimes like a residence hall would paint their shirts all together, so I think we ended up with a pretty good turnout," Tanner said.
On campus organizations got involved with the painting as well, according to Gough, who is a graduate assistant with SAVIP.
"We gave a bunch of shirts to the USCPD and to the School of Public Health and a few other groups," she said.
The shirts on display covered a broad range of topics that encompass Sexual Assault Awareness Month. One shirt read, "It's not your fault, we believe you." Another stated "NO is a complete sentence."
"I really like one of the shirts that was made in honor of [Raja] Fayad," Tanner said. Fayad was killed after being shot on campus by his ex-wife in February. The shooting is the most recent high-profile act of relationship violence at USC this year.
One student walking down Greene Street stopped and took a few seconds to analyze the shirts before continuing on his way.
"I really value the honesty in some of the shirts," Gough said. "The message might be more vulgar or uncomfortable, but I just find it so powerful for somebody to tell me their story on one of these shirts and speak out and be able to tell me, 'Hey, this is what happened to me.'"
Speaking out through the displayed shirts was the goal of The Clothesline Project, according to both Gough and Tanner, but it has benefits for the survivors as well.
"This is a type of art therapy where hopefully the painter can find some healing in the process," Tanner said.