RAPE SURVIVORS BUILD MONUMENT, CHANGE US CULTURE
This August, visitors across the US will witness stories from survivors of sexual violence emblazoned on 200 bright, red quilt squares. During a 13-city tour, The Monument Quilt will be displayed at public parks, town squares, college campuses and high school football fields from White River, SD to Queens, NY. Larger than two basketball courts put together, the traveling quilt is part of an on-going project to create public healing space for survivors of rape and abuse.
“The Monument Quilt is touring the country and creating a national conversation about supporting survivors of rape and abuse. Together we will create a culture where survivors are publicly supported rather than publicly shamed,” says Hannah Brancato, co-director of Force, the organization behind the Monument Quilt.
The Monument Quilt will visit Arden, NC; Birmingham, AL; Baton Rouge, LA; Quapaw, OK; Des Moines, IA; White River, SD; Fox Valley, WI;Chicago, IL; Pittsburgh, PA; Queens, NY; Durham, NC; Baltimore, MD; and Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT.
At the displays, attendees will witness survivors’ stories, demonstrate public support, and transform their local response to rape. While walking through the rows of quilt squares, visitors will be able to write their own reflections, hear speeches from advocates and elected officials, and join in community.
Of the 200 stories, one quilt reads, “Please don’t tell me it didn’t happen or that I should be over it by now.” Another reads, “I reclaim my body as my sanctuary.” Survivors and allies who wish to add a square to the in-progress quilt can make one following these instructions. Squares will be added to the quilt in-person at the displays and collected over the next two years by mail.
The 100 x 100 foot quilt that will be witnessed this summer is only the beginning. Over the next two years the quilt will continue to grow. In a final display, the Monument Quilt will blanket over one mile of the national mall with thousands of quilt squares to spell “NOT ALONE”.
The 2014 quilt tour is being organized in partnership with…
Alternate ROOTS,AAUW Younger Women’s Task Force Baltimore Chapter,American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore City Mayor’s Office on Criminal Justice, Carnegie Mellon University Student Life Office,Chicago Taskforce on Violence Against Girls and Young Women,Crisis Center, Inc., Deaf Iowans Against Abuse (DIAA), Defending Childhood Initiative (DCI), Domestic Violence Program Initiative,Durham Crisis Response Center, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland (GLCCB),Hollaback! Baltimore, Hollaback! Pittsburgh,Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault – Women of Color Advisory Network (WOCAN),Immigrant Movement International,Kiran Inc., La Casa Mandarina, Latinas Unidas por un Nuevo Amanecer (LUNA),LEAD Agency,Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault,LSU Women’s Center,Meskwaki, Monsoon United Asian Women of Iowa,Mujeres Latinas en Accion,National Sexual Assault Conference,National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC),Nisaa African Women’s Project,North Carolina Central University Women’s Center,North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault,Orange County Rape Crisis Center (OCRCC),Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape (PCAR), People of Color Queer Allies Trans,Phynyx Ministries,Pittsburgh Action Against Rape,Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force, Project&, Project NIA,Quapaw Tribe’s Domestic Violence Program,Queens Museum, Rape Advocacy, Counseling & Education Services (RACES),Rape Victims Advocate,REACH Counseling,REACH of Macon County, Salem Lutheran, Rosebud Sioux Tribe, SART Baltimore Community Partners, Sguympa Program,Shaw University Counseling Center, Sexual Trauma Awareness and Response (STAR),Stop Sexual Assault in the Military, Tokala Inajinyo Suicide Prevention Mentoring Program, TurnAround, Inc.,United Steelworkers Women of Steel,University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Women’s Center,Violence Intervention Program, Inc. (VIP Mujeres), Wesleyan Feminist Underground, Wheeling Vet Center,White Buffalo Calf Woman Society,Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) of Pittsburgh Center for Race & Gender Equity