April is Child Abuse Prevention month and Sexual Assault Awareness month. The Center is joining forces with the Colorado Mesa University Sexual Assault Response Team and the Sexual Citizens Club, Latimer House and Goodwill of Colorado to feature the What Were You Wearing? Art Installation. The project, inspired by Dr. Mary Simmerling's poem, What I Was Wearing, is a recreation of what student survivors at the University of Arkansas were wearing when they experienced sexual violence.
The Installation asks viewers to understand that it was never about the clothing a person was wearing when they were assaulted; the act of shedding those clothes is never enough to bring peace or comfort to survivors. The assault is not simply woven into the fabric of the material, it is a part of the survivor's new narrative.
If only ending sexual violence was as easy as changing our clothes…instead, it requires all of us to evaluate what enabled us as individuals and as a society to ask, “what were you wearing?” in the first place.
What Were You Wearing is open to the public at two locations:
April 4th at the Mesa County Public Library, 443 N. 6th Street, 5:00p to 7:30pm
April 11th and 12th Colorado Mesa University, Meyer Ballroom, 11:00am to 4:00pm
The Installation asks viewers to understand that it was never about the clothing a person was wearing when they were assaulted; the act of shedding those clothes is never enough to bring peace or comfort to survivors. The assault is not simply woven into the fabric of the material, it is a part of the survivor's new narrative.
If only ending sexual violence was as easy as changing our clothes…instead, it requires all of us to evaluate what enabled us as individuals and as a society to ask, “what were you wearing?” in the first place.
What Were You Wearing is open to the public at two locations:
April 4th at the Mesa County Public Library, 443 N. 6th Street, 5:00p to 7:30pm
April 11th and 12th Colorado Mesa University, Meyer Ballroom, 11:00am to 4:00pm
IF YOU SUSPECT ABUSE
CALL 970-242-1211
OR DIAL 911
If you suspect child abuse - or if a child tells you about abuse - making a report is very important! You cannot get into trouble or lose your job for making a report that turns out to be unfounded if you had good intentions when you made the report.All calls remain anonymous.
Reports of known or suspected child abuse or neglect should be made immediately to the Mesa County Department of Human Services Child Protection Hotline at (970) 242-1211 or a local law enforcement agency at 911.
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