Study Committee on Consent Announced

Study committee on consent announced

Clotheslines adorned with personal stories of sexual assault brought attention to the issue

Today – two months after clotheslines bearing Hoosiers’ personal statements about sexual assault were hung in the Indiana Statehouse and supporters called for action – the Indiana Legislative Council assigned a committee to study the topic of sexual consent.

Women4Change and the Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault and Human Trafficking partnered with hundreds of Indiana arts, cultural, survivors and other groups to make The Clothesline Indiana a rallying point for a campaign to bring Indiana up-to-date in terms of sexual assault laws.

Progress toward real change in the way Indiana addresses sexual assault starts with consent legislation. Because Indiana does not have a law defining consent, sex without consent is not a crime in Indiana unless there is force, threat of force, or incapacitation. More than 20 states (including Illinois and Ohio) have laws that define consent. Indiana’s study committee will examine consent during the break between legislative sessions.

Rep. Sue Errington-D (Muncie), Rep. Wendy McNamara-R (Evansville), Rep. Chris Campbell-D (West Lafayette), Rep. Sharon Negele-R (Attica) and Sen. Karen Tallian-D (Ogden Dunes) provided letters of support for the study committee.

“This shows that when we educate, equip and mobilize Hoosiers, they can create positive change for women,” said Rima Shahid, executive director of Women4Change. “Between the March 5 event at the Statehouse and today, we activated our constituents to engage and push for the study committee on consent, so we’re pleased to see it happen.”

“Study committees provide an opportunity to thoroughly vet issues and determine whether to pursue legislation in the next session, so this is a critical milestone in our efforts to get consent legislation,” said Tracey Horth Kreuger, executive director of the Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault & Human Trafficking.  

Clothesline Indiana is based on El Tendedero, an art installation first presented by artist Monica Mayer in Mexico City in 1978. The installation transforms a clothesline – a symbol of traditional feminine roles – into a forum for conversation by asking members of the public to write about their experiences with sexual violence on cards that they then hang on a clothesline. Gathered online and statewide at events at cultural institutions and sexual-assault and domestic-violence survivors’ shelters, the cards include Hoosiers’ answers to such questions as “Have you ever experienced sexual violence or harassment? What happened?” and “Where do you feel safe? Why?”

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MEDIA CONTACT:  Jen Schmits Thomas, jen@jtprinc.com, 317-441-2487