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Clothesline project empowers victims nationwide
by Rena Lidstone
The simple T-shirts with powerful messages are displayed each October and April in support of
Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
The clothesline is exhibited in Atrium I for everyone to see, touch, and experience and declares
the harsh realities of abuse, rape, murder, incest and verbal assault.
Breaking the silence and bearing witness to violence against women and children is the goal of the
Clothesline Project.
The idea for the compelling display originated October 1990 in Hyannis, Mass., by a small group of
women determined to educate their community about the shocking statistics relating to domestic
violence against women.
This austere exhibit that was part of the National Organization for Women's annual Take Back the
Night rally in 1990 quickly grew and is now recognized nationally and internationally. UH-Clear Lake
began participating in the project three years ago.
"We were the first university in this area to do this project," said Betty Brown, counselor with
the UH-Clear Lake Career and Counseling Services.
All shirts on the clothesline were made by students or staff members at various workshops over a
three-year period. A total of 26 shirts complete the UH-Clear Lake collection.
The color schemes of the T-shirts differentiate the various crimes.
White is for murder, yellow represents battery or assault, pink or red denote rape or sexual
assault, green or blue signify incest or child sexual abuse, and purple characterizes violence
because of sexual orientation.
"This year we started a new color, unique to the UH-Clear Lake campus," Brown said. Pale blue
T-shirts personify hope for a positive future.
Brown said the number of participants in the T-shirt-making workshops vary from two to five people.
"Workshops are small and personal, and we protect those who participate," Brown said. "The
workshops are not limited to just women; men can participate, too."
A former UH-Clear Lake student, who has asked to remain anonymous, has participated in two
Clothesline Project workshops and agrees with Brown.
"You don't have to be a victim to participate; [you] can do one in honor of someone or just make a
statement," she said.
Sexually assaulted by her father at age 11, this recent graduate of UH-Clear Lake was encouraged by
Brown to participate in the project.
"I decided to work on letting my anger out," she said. "But I was scared to go to the workshop
because I did not know who was going to be there and if I was going to cry or become angry."
For this survivor, the workshop was empowering and a tool for healing.
"[Making] my first T-shirt was an incredible sense of release and power," she said. "I had
something to say, and I said it in a safe place."
Not only was the project empowering for this former student, it was also symbolic. As a child, she
told her mother about the abuse and was reassured everything would be fine. But it was not.
"[The T-shirt] gives you a voice that cannot and will not be silenced," she said. "Knowing
[the shirt] is part of a permanent collection, [the abuse] cannot be ignored, and it will not go
away."
Bay Area Turning Point, Inc. of Webster got involved in the Clothesline Project five years ago and
played an instrumental role in bringing the idea to UH-Clear Lake, said A.J. Thompson, youth
education advocacy specialist.
"We have about 100 T-shirts in our display," Thompson said. "Our clothesline is an on-going
project; it is up all year, and people are continually creating."
There are approximately 35,000 to 50,000 shirts in the NOW Clothesline Project.
The statistics on domestic violence are overwhelming and disturbing.
In November 2000, the National Institute of Justice published findings from the National Violence
Against Women Survey. The report indicates that violence is more prevalent than previously thought.
According to the report, an estimated 1.9 million women are assaulted annually.
The most common behavior associated with physical assault is slapping and hitting, followed by
pushing, grabbing and striking with an object.
One of six women and one of 33 men in the United States has been a victim of rape. A majority of
the rape victims surveyed reported being assaulted under the age of 18.
Domestic violence and sexual assault is not prejudiced against race, color, age or gender.
The testaments to abuse and survival can be seen hanging from clotheslines across the nation.
For more information on the UH-Clear Lake Clothesline Project, call Betty Brown at (281) 283-2600.
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