What were you Wearing?
Trigger warning: This article contains stories from sexual assault survivors which may be unconformable for some people.
The Fredericton Campus Sexual Assault Support and Advocacy Centre (CSASA) held a clothing exhibit in the UNB atrium called “What were you wearing?”
The goal of this campaign was to stop victim blaming by changing the myth that there is something a person can do or wear that would cause their own sexual assault.
The CSASA reached out to the Fredericton community from their Facebook page, inviting people to take part in a survey by sharing their stories and experience with sexual violence. The introduction to the survey describes sexual assault as “a betrayal that happens when we least expect it and has nothing to do with the ways we were dressed or the way we present ourselves.”
They received stories from students on campus as well as from the general public. They were printed out and displayed alongside mannequins that wore what the victims wore when the assaults happened.
“He didn’t accept “no” as an answer to not wanting sex,” one of the stories read. “He did what he could until I started screaming and he became scared his neighbours would hear. I was wearing [a] pink knee-length sleeveless dress [and] flip flops.”
The clothing that people wore varied from winter coats, to tee-shirts, to pyjamas, to dresses. By showing the variety of clothing worn, this helped show that sexual assault really has nothing to do with what a victim was wearing.
It’s the hope of the CSASA to use this event to deconstruct myths about sexual assault, while also raising awareness and providing support to students and the general public.
“I feel like sexual wellness is very important on a university campus,” said McMillan. “Anything from safe sex to contraceptive methods is always important to talk about.”
