The Salvation Army Anew Center is holding a tabling event Thursday for Sexual Assault Awareness month, which will include the ability for people to paint t-shirts as a part of the Clothesline Project. Photo courtesy of the Clothesline Project’s website

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and the Salvation Army’s Anew Center is working to help bring sexual assault awareness to the local community through a tabling event coming up on Thursday.

The Anew Center is holding an Awareness and Tabling Event Thursday at the Fellowship Hall of the Salvation Army Corps Building, 83 South Main Street from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

“April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and we wanted to do this event to help bring awareness to how many people are sexually assaulted in a year, and to be a voice and to help them,” said Linda Cecchetti, Prevention Education Team Leader for the Anew Center.

The event will include a table with information and Fidelis Insurance will also be there providing t-shirts to paint for the Clothesline Project.

According to their website, the Clothesline Project began in 1990 when a coalition of women’s groups in Cape Cod, Massachusetts came together to develop a program that would educate, break the silence, and bear witness to violence against women. Through the Clothesline Project, each woman decorates a shirt in her own way with words or through artwork, and once finished it would be hung on the clothesline; to be used as an educational tool for others, a healing tool for survivors, and to allow those still suffering in silence to know they are not alone.

“Survivors of sexual assault can write messages on shirts and hang them up on the clothesline to tell the story of what they’ve been through,” Cecchetti said. “We’re hoping to hang them up somewhere in the city.”

The tabling event is something new for the Anew Center, and it also involves other agencies. It is free and open to the public, with people able to come and paint a ribbon or a shirt, and refreshments are also provided.

Something else the Salvation Army Anew Center does for the community is answering the call from hospitals to come help support those who have been sexually assaulted in any way they can. Sexual assault happens more than people might think, Cecchetti said, and the main purpose behind the event is bringing awareness to that.

“This is something that happens in our community that needs to be talked about,” Cecchetti said. “Awareness in our community is needed, especially as people often think sexual assault is just rape. They may have been sexually assaulted and are not aware, as sexual assault is anytime someone touches you without your consent. This event will also tell people it is OK to speak up, and if you can’t speak up we will do it for you.”

The most important thing that Cecchetti wants people to know is that if someone is a victim of sexual assault, they are not alone. If sexually assaulted, victims should contact the police or the Anew Center’s hotline 1-800-252-8748, or specifically for the Jamestown area, 661-3897. The Anew Center also holds Teal Tuesdays throughout the month, as teal is the color for Sexual Assault Awareness.

“If you have been sexually assaulted, we will believe you,” Cecchetti said. “It doesn’t matter if you were drinking or what you were wearing, sexual assault is not OK. Prevention and education is the key to ending sexual assault, and Sexual Assault Awareness Month is important so everyone can have a voice.”