Collegiate Times

Lauren Rode, then-freshman biology major, admires shirts on display for the Clothesline Project in March 2007.

Womanspace and Montgomery County National Organization for Women hope to bring the issue of violence against women out in the open through a display on the Drillfield on Wednesday, March 25, and Thursday, March 26.

Through the Clothesline Project, the two organizations are able to visually display the impact that violence has had on women in the New River Valley with the support of The Women's Center at Virginia Tech and the Women's Resource Center of the New River Valley. Faculty and students of both Virginia Tech and Radford, as well people from Roanoke and surrounding areas, have contributed shirts they've decorated with their experiences.

The two primary purposes of the project are to raise awareness about violence against women in the community and to offer victims a chance to share their stories.

"Creating a shirt aids the survivor in his or her healing process," said Susan Anderson, assistant coordinator for Montgomery County NOW.

The shirts are color coded: yellow or beige for women who have experienced physical abuse; red, orange and pink for victims of rape or sexual assault; blue and green for survivors of incest or sexual abuse as a child; and purple and lavender for women who have been attacked because of their sexual orientation. Black and white shirts represent women who have been handicapped or killed because of abuse, respectively.

According to Womanspace club President Nicole Faut, the Clothesline Project began nationally in the fall of 1990 in Massachusetts. Anderson said that the project began at Tech in 1994.

Volunteers at Tech for the event are mainly students from women's studies classes and members of Womanspace, a club that focuses on women's issues, such as domestic abuse and women's rights.

There are currently 450 shirts on the line from previous years, and each year generally adds between 20 and 50 new shirts to the line. Montgomery County NOW provides the blank T-shirts, fabrics, wood and other materials for the project.

Donations aid in the purchase of the items, as does money raised by selling feminist buttons, which can be purchased at tables during events such as Take Back the Night on March 26.

"My hope is that people would view the shirt and that it would stir them in wanting to help lessen the violence in our community," Anderson said. Students can help end violence against women by volunteering or donating money to organizations that aid victims, she said. They can also make a difference by speaking out about verbal and physical abuse they witness in the community.

The planners hope that the display on the Drillfield will make a powerful statement about the frequency of abuse in Blacksburg, Radford and the surrounding areas.

"Each shirt represents a person who has been harmed by violence, and I think that when you see shirt after shirt after shirt you realize that violence happens everywhere in the world, including our own community," Anderson said.

Anyone wishing to make a shirt can stop by the Women's Center at Virginia Tech at 206 Washington St. anytime between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. until Friday of this week. In case of rain, the display will be located in Squires Student Center.