Clothesline Project, Denim Day raise awareness of sexual assault, WABI reports

WABI (Channel 5) reported the University of Maine is recognizing Sexual Assault Awareness Month through the Clothesline Project and Denim Day. The Clothesline Project, an installation on the Mall, features shirts with unique, handmade designs made by survivors that depict stories of violence and the struggles to overcome abuse, WABI reported. The project is a collaboration with Bangor-based organizations Partners for Peace and Rape Response Services and will be on display 11 a.m.–1 p.m. through April 25. UMaine’s Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department and Student Life also are sponsors. Denim Day is an educational event in which participants wear jeans as a visual reminder that there is no excuse for violence against women, WABI reported. The event marks a 1999 Italian Supreme Court decision that overturned a defendant’s rape conviction based on his testimony that his victim’s jeans were too tight to remove without assistance.