Freshman Ralph Pruitt paints a bandana during, "It's On Us Week," on April 5, 2023, in Brody Square Atrium.
Justice for Migrant Women, a non-profit civil rights organization, hosted a project as a part of MSU's "It's On Us Week," a week filled with events to raise awareness for sexual violence.
The project, called the Bandana Project, is meant to shed light on the importance of speaking up for the sexual violence that migrant women face in the agricultural industry. Participants painted bandanas with supportive messages.
“We have Migrant Student Services where we do have students who come from migrant communities," Matea Caluk, the associate director of the MSU Prevention, Outreach and Education department said. "So we wanted to bring awareness and attention of this type of violence is happening in those communities.”
The event was held in the Brody Square Atrium and students were able to sit down and learn about the issue as well as paint.
“The display of bandanas is essentially bringing awareness to the issue because farmworker women who are working in the fields do wear bandanas not only to shield them from the sun and other elements, but also (metaphorically) in regards to sexual harassment, sexual assault,” Caluk said.
Students were interested in the idea of participating in a hands-on activity rather than just hearing about the issue.
“Sometimes lectures just don't click with people," Supply chain management freshman Ralph Pruitt said. “It helps me set ideas and create ideas and also be able to have a thought process where I'm able to communicate and not just sit there.”
The bandanas will displayed in Brody and then turned into a "traveling display" to continue to promote the cause.
“(We want to) be able to kind of expose the awareness and the issue across campus and within the community,” Caluk said.
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