Photo courtesy of Force
“I still remember vividly the sensation of your cold wet hand covering my mouth”
This is just one of the many messages that are sewn into the Monument Quilt – a traveling quilt larger than two basketball courts that compiles the stories of survivors of sexual violence. The quilt is part of the Baltimore-born activist group FORCE’s on-going campaign to create a public healing space for survivors of rape and abuse.
Isolation, anxiety, guilt, shame, depression, and fear plague survivors daily. It isn’t uncommon for the trauma to lead to survivors experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. We live in a culture that ignores the severity of sexual violence, a rape culture where victims are shamed and blamed for others cruel actions. According to FORCE, sexual violence in the United States is nothing short of an epidemic. In the US, 1 in 3 women, 1 in 3 trans people and 1 in 6 men will be raped or abused in their lifetime. In fact, women are twice as likely to experience rape over breast cancer. FORCE is an organization that describes itself as, “an art and activist campaign to upset the dominant culture of rape and promote a culture of consent,” and has created the Monument Quilt to give much needed support to these survivors.
The quilt is the most recent effort on behalf of FORCE, who has been working relentlessly since 2010 to encourage consent in a variety of ways, such as pretending to be Playboy releasing a “Top Ten Party Commandments” guide to consensual sex for college students. The group is also widely known for their viral panty prank, where they pretended to be Victoria’s Secret promoting consent themed slogans on underwear and thongs (with messages such as “Respect,” “Listen to what I want,” and “Ask First.”). They also received national attention for projecting “RAPE IS RAPE” onto the US Capitol Building, and for floating a poem written by a survivor in the reflecting pool of the national mall. These displays have been designed specifically to change the way people think about rape and abuse. It is not enough to try to change political policy – in order to abolish rape culture it is necessary to affect people’s minds.
FORCE is currently on a national tour with the Monument Quilt, traveling as far as South Dakota, presenting the quilt in 12 cities across the United States and adding more squares along the way. On August 30 the quilt will be on display at Federal Hill in downtown Baltimore, a special homecoming for FORCE, who says they are “incredibly grateful for the community of support we have in Baltimore,” and that the national project “would certainly not be possible without it.” The Baltimore display is being planned in collaboration with Hollaback! Baltimore, AAUW Younger Women’s Task Force, TurnAround, Inc., Mayor’s Office on Criminal Justice, American Visionary Art Museum, and Phynyx Ministries.
Photo courtesy of FORCE
At the display, attendees will witness survivors’ stories, demonstrate public support, and begin to transform their local response to rape. The Monument Quilt provides clear and accessible steps to support survivors of rape and abuse when, often, people don’t know where to begin. Through public recognition, the quilt reconnects survivors to their community and gives a voice to the voiceless.
“By stitching our stories together we are creating and demanding public space to heal,” says FORCE co-director Hannah Brancato. “The Monument Quilt is a platform to not only tell our stories, but work together to forever change how our country responds to rape. We are creating a new culture where survivors are publicly supported, rather than publicly shamed.”
“Just because someone has done something to our bodies, it doesn’t mean that they can break our spirit”
– Shameeka Dream
The first step towards healing, according to FORCE’s resident healing artist Shameeka Dream, is in the individual. “It starts with me – I have the right to say ‘no’ and the responsibility to upset rape culture everywhere I go,” says Dream. “If you need support, it is your responsibility to ask for it, you need to open your mouth and speak.” The Monument Quilt provides a safe space for survivors to take the first steps towards healing.
Each quilt square sewn into the Monument Quilt represents a person. By making a square and adding it to the quilt, each survivor is simultaneously asking for support and reaching out to help others. Dream says that the display is a powerful sight, and from the perspective of a survivor, seeing all the quilt squares laid out is both “heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time when you realize that you aren’t alone.” It is heartbreaking because of the knowledge that another human underwent the same pain. But the experience is also heartwarming – there are others who can relate to your struggle. Dream says that when people leave the healing space they abandon their overwhelmed feelings and “feel light” now that they have others to help shoulder the burden.
A critical aspect of the Monument Quilt displays is to reconnect survivors to their communities, says co-director Rebecca Nagel. “Our community is not whole without all of the people that make it up, and as part of our community, if survivors are hurting then the community itself is fractured,” says Maria Bady, event coordinator in Fox Valley, WI. “We are grateful that the Monument Quilt will give us a chance to publicly support our survivors so that they, individually, and we, the community, can start to become whole.” After all, “individual means undivided,” says Dream, and FORCE is “holding America and humans accountable for being healers.” Force actively works to turn America into a safe place, a healing nation, by promoting a “culture of respect and consent.”
The Monument Quilt will have one last stop to make on their national tour after coming to Baltimore on the August 30, but the quilt’s mission will be far from over. Force will continue adding squares for their final display in which the Monument Quilt will blanket over one mile of the national mall in DC for an entire week. Dream says that they hope to collect at least 6,000 quilt squares for this event, and they will be stitched together to spell out “NOT ALONE.”
Photo courtesy of Force
The Monument Quilt is only the beginning. FORCE is using the national tour to gain public support for their campaign to establish a permanent memorial for survivors of sexual violence. Monuments are constructed to remind people in the future of things that are too important forget. A permanent memorial to survivors of rape and abuse would demonstrate public support, reconnect survivors to their community and provide a safe, positive, healing space. It would serve as a bookmark in our collective history, a reminder of the suffering that stems from our rape culture, ensuring that we do not repeat our mistakes, showing the importance of consent and respect for all beings.
For those interested in playing a role this nation-wide community art project, there are many different ways to get involved. Survivors and allies can make their own quilt square. People across the country are invited to host quilt-making workshops in their school, community center, place of worship, or town. You can also volunteer time or donate money to help make this vision a reality. All the different ways to engage, resources for survivors, information about upcoming events, and more can be found at the Monument Quilt website. If you are interested in volunteering at a quilt display email upsettingrapeculture@gmail.com.
