Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

On the occasion of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the exhibition “What Were You Wearing” was also set up in the spaces of Viale Zara 100, which was inspired by a project by Jen Brockman, director of the Kansas Center for Sexual Prevention and Training, and Mary A. Wyandt-Hiebert responsible for all programming initiatives at the University of Arkansas Rape Education Center where she was first exhibited in the spring of 2013.

Now the event arrives in Italy thanks to the Association Free Synergies which proposes an adaptation to the socio-cultural context of our country.
The idea behind the work is to raise public awareness on the issue of violence against women starting from a recurring question posed to
those who suffer sexual harassment or violence: "How were you dressed?".
It is a question that underlies important sexist stereotypes and has serious implications with a negative impact on women who have suffered violence, 
since it presupposes the idea that the victim could have avoided the rape if only she had worn less provocative clothing. 

This exhibition aims to dismantle this prejudice, starting from the short story of a series of abuse stories placed next to the clothes in 
exhibition which intend to faithfully represent the clothing that the victim was wearing at the time of the violence suffered.
According to Jen Brockman, the main purpose of the exhibition, as well as being to promote greater public awareness on the topic
of gender violence, is also to support the need to combat the sense of guilt placed on the victims, which is not a secondary aspect. 

Visitors can identify with the stories told and at the same time see how common the clothes the victims wore are.
In this context, the stereotypes that lead us to think that by eliminating some clothes from the wardrobes, or by avoiding wearing them, become evident
women can automatically eliminate sexual violence. 

The stories displayed are translated into five languages: Italian, English, Spanish, French and Arabic.

Download the flyer here
Download the brochure here