2008 Woodie Awards
The Clothesline Project sheds light on violence against women
By: Becky Tener
Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: Campus
A T-shirt can reveal a lot about a person: what bands they listen to, where they go to school, where they shop or their favorite sports team. But today in Olscamp Hall, the T-shirts will reveal a different kind of message with the Clothesline Project.
The Clothesline Project is a visual representation that bears witness to violence against women through the display of T-shirts, according to the Sexual Assault Awareness Month Committee.
Today about 350 T-shirts provided by Victims Services of Behavioral Connections will be hung up across 101 Olscamp. Each shirt represents a woman from Wood County and the violence committed against her, said Julie Broadwell, Victims Services program manager.
Along with the display volunteers will be available to talk to people about the project and hand out information regarding violence awareness and prevention, victim advocate Megan Zorn said.
The Clothesline Project was started in 1990 in Massachusetts for rape victims and then became a national movement, Broadwell said. She said Victims Services of Behavioral Connections started their collection in 1995 and have been displaying it at various times and locations ever since.
Zorn said each shirt was made by a victim or by friends or family of a victim. The purpose of making the shirts is to help them cope with their feelings and give them an outlet for their emotions, she said.
"For a lot of women it is the first time they are facing what happened to them," Zorn said.
Broadwell said all of the supplies are provided to anyone willing to share their story through a T-shirt.
Many of the shirts, she said, are color-coded to the crime committed against that woman. There are many different colors in the display, like red representing sexual assault and white representing murder, she said. But Broadwell said the victim can also make the color and the shirt choice themselves.
"We had a woman who was assaulted and used the shirt she was wearing that night," she said.
The Clothesline Project is a visual representation that bears witness to violence against women through the display of T-shirts, according to the Sexual Assault Awareness Month Committee.
Today about 350 T-shirts provided by Victims Services of Behavioral Connections will be hung up across 101 Olscamp. Each shirt represents a woman from Wood County and the violence committed against her, said Julie Broadwell, Victims Services program manager.
Along with the display volunteers will be available to talk to people about the project and hand out information regarding violence awareness and prevention, victim advocate Megan Zorn said.
The Clothesline Project was started in 1990 in Massachusetts for rape victims and then became a national movement, Broadwell said. She said Victims Services of Behavioral Connections started their collection in 1995 and have been displaying it at various times and locations ever since.
Zorn said each shirt was made by a victim or by friends or family of a victim. The purpose of making the shirts is to help them cope with their feelings and give them an outlet for their emotions, she said.
"For a lot of women it is the first time they are facing what happened to them," Zorn said.
Broadwell said all of the supplies are provided to anyone willing to share their story through a T-shirt.
Many of the shirts, she said, are color-coded to the crime committed against that woman. There are many different colors in the display, like red representing sexual assault and white representing murder, she said. But Broadwell said the victim can also make the color and the shirt choice themselves.
"We had a woman who was assaulted and used the shirt she was wearing that night," she said.
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