CEI Clothesline exhibit spreads awareness of sexual abuse and domestic violence

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - The College of Eastern Idaho is holding an exhibit to address the issues of domestic violence and sexual assault. The project allows survivors and people affected by assault to share their stories.

Former CEI student Melissa Sudweeks launched the exhibit idea as her capstone project in 2019, but it had to be delayed due to COVID-19. Now the campus plans to host the exhibit annually.

"It's very validating as a survivor myself that other people want to hear their stories," Sudweeks said. "They want to be a part of it. They want to help with resources."

Around one in six women and one in every 33 men experience some form of sexual assault in their lifetimes. But both those statistics are highly under-reported.

"Up to 75% of sexual assaults are unreported. So if we were to look at that about one in six, it's going to come down to. One in two women. It's going to come down to one in four men. Those numbers are going to shift drastically," forensic nurse program coordinator Emily said. "Unfortunately, men are often more underreported than women. It was up to maybe as high as 90%."

Each shirt is made by a survivor or someone who has lost a loved one to violence. So each shirt represents a real act of violence or abuse in Idaho Falls or the surrounding areas.

The goal of the exhibit is to remove the stigma and myths surrounding sexual assault and domestic violence.

"We have to talk about if we're going to ever make any changes. If we're going to ever try to make it so that people don't feel they have to be ashamed that they were sexually assaulted. That's not their fault," Emily said.