Drawing the Line Against Sexual Violence
by: Nicole Eley and Lindsey Henley

In a silent room of painful memories, a woman sits holding a paintbrush as her only comfort.  A tee shirt has become her canvas, and every brush stroke tells a story of distress, anger and grief… a story of sexual violence and assault. 

For 11 years, a handful of local women’s advocates have brought a powerful testimony of sexual violence to Virginia Tech through the “Clothesline Project.” For one week during the fall and spring, victims of  sexual violence can attend an anonymous workshop to create a shirt that will tell their story.  These shirts are hung side by side on a clothesline stretching across the campus Drillfield.  They symbolize a united army of victims taking a stand against violence according to Susan Anderson, faculty advisor to Womanspace and chief coordinator for the Clothesline Project Display. 
 
“It’s a visual testimony to the violence that has happened to women in this community,” Anderson said.  “Each of the shirts tells the truth as a survivor knows it.”

This past week, Womanspace added to a collection of more than 400 multi-colored T-shirts.  The shirts are color-coded to symbolize the type of violence committed:  white for those who have died of violence, yellow or beige for women who have been battered or assaulted; red, pink, or orange for those raped or sexually assaulted; blue or green for survivors of incest or child sexual abuse; purple or lavender for women attacked because of their sexual orientations; and black for women handicapped by violence.

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• Jeremy Crider, Reporter (NBC 10, Roanoke)