Wisconsin High Schooler Helps Sexual Assault Survivors

ONALASKA, WI — A junior at Onalaska High School on Tuesday donated more than 700 clothing items to the Mayo Clinic for people who have been sexually assaulted, thanks to an initiative she started in February.

Jessica Randall started the “Survivor Clothing Project” after discovering that when people have been sexually assaulted and are treated at a hospital, their clothes are sometimes collected as evidence and they’re sent home wearing disposable scrubs and underwear. Being sent home after a traumatic event in disposable clothing was dehumanizing, and survivors deserve to be treated better, Randall said in an interview with WKBT-TV.

“Survivor Clothing Project” isn’t just a clothing drive for Randall. It’s also an awareness campaign.

Most people don't know about the temporary clothing sexual assault survivors are given, according to Randall. A small gesture such as donating clothes can make a big difference in helping someone who has been through a traumatic event, she said.

“The biggest thing I can take away is that there are so many injustices in the world and in our communities right here in front of us,” Randall told the station. “All it takes is one person to see something and get the support of everyone else, and you can make a change.”

Randall hopes to continue the “Survivor Clothing Project” as a year-round endeavor and plans to donate clothing to other local hospitals.

“I had a spur-of-the-moment idea," she told WKBT-TV, "but now I’m planning on continuing this year-round and handing it down to other students in my school once I graduate, because this need isn’t going to go away.”