What is the Clothesline Project?
The Clothesline Project (CLP) is a program started on Cape Cod, MA, in 1990 to address the issue of violence against women. It is a vehicle for women affected by violence to express their emotions by decorating a shirt. They then hang the shirt on a clothesline to be viewed by others as testimony to the problem of violence against women. The CLP is in it’s second year at Wesleyan, but it has been used in association with Take Back the Night or on its own at other schools. At Wesleyan, these shirts will instead be pieces of white fabric (or flags), to be decorated by students affected by sexual assault or in support of those who have. The CLP was initially started as a women-specific event, but Wesleyans event will be open to all students. • What can I put on my flag? Wesleyans CLP encourages students who have been affected by sexual assault to decorate a flag. Students who have not been affected are also invited to decorate flags in support of those who have. Flags can be used to say a
