Someone You Know is a peer education and prevention group that focuses on sexual assault and interpersonal violence awareness, advocacy, survivor support, bystander intervention and stalking. We present detailed programs to other campus organizations such as fraternities and sororities, club sports teams and cultural organizations. Someone You Know organizes campus-wide passive programming like The Handprint Project, the National Clothesline Project, Why I Didn’t Report and Consent Is. We also do more interactive programming that involves discussion on topics such as intersectionality, healthy relationships and LGBTQ+.
* Any Impact Week project funds remaining after June 30, 2023 will be used for SUA programming and student philanthropy educational initiatives at W&M.
Their Project
The National Clothesline Project was started in Cape Cod in 1990. The mission of the project is to “break the silence and bear witness” to sexual assault and interpersonal violence. The project spreads sexual assault awareness while empowering survivors. Survivors write/draw on T-shirts anything they want to about their assault or survivor story. Second-hand survivors and supporters can make a T-shirt to recognize the strength of survivors, show their support or explain how sexual assault has affected them indirectly. The T-shirts then hang on clotheslines, shoulder-to-shoulder. The T-shirts are color-coded to represent different sexual violence crimes. Since 1990, over 500 projects have been created all over the country. Many universities have started their own projects and William & Mary will host its third annual Clothesline Project in April. Someone You Know started William & Mary’s Clothesline Project in April 2018. We were able to raise over $1,000 and work with multiple different departments and administrators to establish this powerful event. The National Clothesline Project was held on the Sadler Terrace the first year. Last year, we had to reserve the Sunken Gardens because the project was so successful the first year and we needed more space for all the participants’ shirts. In order to be recognized as part of the National Clothesline Project, the William & Mary campus community does not pay to participate in the project. The T-shirts are free to all participants. Students can get a T-shirt anonymously by filling out a form with their CSU number (W&M post office box). We have arranged an agreement with the W&M post office to drop off T-shirts with instructions for students. We set up drop-off boxes in Sadler and at the Haven for students to return their shirts. We have Haven volunteers and an Avalon representative attend the event as an on-site confidential resource for students. For the last two years, this project has been extremely successful with strong positive feedback from the campus community. We believe Impact Week can help us keep this project an annual tradition at William & Mary.