What Were You Wearing? Exhibit
Join the Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office (SVPRO) and Sexual Assault Centre for Waterloo Region (SASC) for the What Were You Wearing? art installation. What Were You Wearing? is an art exhibit based on student-survivor descriptions of the clothes they were wearing when they were sexually assaulted. Sexual assault survivors are often asked, “what were you wearing?”, implying that what someone wears can cause a sexual assault.
This myth about sexual violence is used to blame survivors and justify the actions of those who cause harm. Survivors are never to blame for their experience(s) of sexual violence. We all have the right to wear what we want.
The “What Were You Wearing?” Survivor Art Installation originated at the University of Arkansas in 2013. Created by Jen Brockman and Dr. Mary Wyandt-Hiebert, the project was inspired by Dr. Mary Simmerling’s poem, What I Was Wearing. Oregon State University interpreted and recreated a virtual exhibit.
This semester, the SVPRO in partnership with SASC is recreating the exhibit to highlight the pervasiveness of victim-blaming and the harm and trauma it causes survivors.
When
Tuesday February 28, 10am to 8pm
Wednesday March 1, 10am to 5pm
Where
Student Life Centre, Multi-Purpose Room (SLC - MPR)