Commentary: Sexual Assault In Indiana Is Out Of Control

By Tracey Horth Krueger
and Rima Shahid

Too afraid and embarrassed to scream. Thought it was my fault.”

Written in hurried but elegant cursive on a slip of paper, those brief bursts of words—like the others in italics below—tell the story of one Indiana woman’s sexual assault. At the same time, they represent the experiences of far too many Hoosier women. Even as they are being victimized, they’re embarrassed. Even as they want to scream in terror, they’re silenced by fear. Even as someone takes advantage of them, they feel they are at fault.

This happens more often than you’d think: One out of five Hoosier females has been sexually assaulted. And our daughters? Indiana ranks fourth highest in the nation for the number of reported rapes among high school girls.

If you do the math, that means we should see more than 650,000 sexual assaults reported each year. But we don’t, because 85% of sexual assaults are not reported. Why? Because victims feel they will not be believed or they will be blamed. Time after time, victims are asked, “What were you wearing?” and “Were you drinking?” They are quizzed about their sex lives. Their memory or interpretation of events is challenged. Meanwhile, the perpetrator is seldom asked the obvious question: “Why do you think it’s OK to rape someone?”

The truth is, addressing sexual violence is tough. As a society, we don’t like to talk about sex – we find it embarrassing and improper – let alone sexual violence. But we can’t keep quiet any longer. We must talk about this difficult topic, because our silence is robbing women of their freedom from fear, and our unwillingness to hear their pain affects their lives every day.

“I left that job because management and HR didn’t believe me.”

Having seen the state resist for too long traditional efforts to drive change, a coalition of Indiana individuals and organizations is using art and community action to ensure that women’s voices are heard and change is achieved. Women4Change and the Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault are leading this yearlong creative initiative called El Tendedero/The Clothesline Indiana.

Based on an art installation first presented by artist Monica Mayer in Mexico City in 1978, El Tendedero/The Clothesline incorporates the power of stories shared on postcards.

“I was never told coercion was not consensual.” 

We invite survivors from across the state to share your stories if you are comfortable. Your voices have power and perhaps El Tendedero/The Clothesline offers the opportunity to be heard.   Survivors can anonymously answer one or more questions on pink postcards that will be hung on clotheslines at a variety of events, including at the Indiana Statehouse on March 5. Postcards include such questions as “Have you ever experienced sexual violence or harassment? What happened?” and “Where do you feel safe? Why?”

You can also share your stories digitally at https://www.women4changeindiana.org/the-clothesline.

Our goal is to let women know that we hear them, and we aren’t going to ignore what’s happening to them. At the same time, we want to equip and inspire women – and all Hoosiers – to learn who represents them in the Indiana General Assembly and then to engage with those representatives and encourage them to support initiatives to reduce and prevent sexual assault.

“Being resilient does not mean I’m immune to the pain.”

The emotional impact of the stories shared through El Tendedero/The Clothesline will help lawmakers see that they need to address this issue. They need to help sexual assault survivors understand that they are not at fault. And they need to assure those who have experienced sexual assault that we, as a state, will not stand by silently as they suffer and struggle. We hear them, even when they can’t scream.

FOOTNOTE: Tracey Horth Krueger is the chief executive officer of the Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault (ICESA) and Rima Shahid is executive director of Women4Change Indiana