T-shirts telling tales of domestic violence

AURORA, Ill. November 6, 2006 - Aurora University will host “The Clothesline Project,” a display of 50 hand-made tee shirts by victims of domestic violence, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 9, at Dunham Hall, 1400 Marseillaise Place in Aurora.

The public is invited to the display of shirts hanging side by side on clothesline ropes.

Co-sponsors are AU’s Social Work Association and the DuPage YWCA of Glen Ellyn.

Dr. Donald Phelps, assistant professor of social work, said the exhibit is being held to bring awareness of domestic violence to the campus and community, and to acknowledge those who have been victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence.

Friends and survivors of violence to women may design a shirt at the display, or at home, to be added to the project.

Visitors are invited to donate new or used plain shirts. Colors requested are white, red, pink, beige, yellow, blue, green, orange, lavender or purple.

Donated shirts are given free to any survivor of violence to women. Survivors then design shirts that are added to the display.

The Clothesline Project-Chicagoland and Suburbs, a Lockport-based non-profit, is the umbrella organization for local groups mounting displays.

“Designed by survivors and friends and families of victims of violence to women, the shirts hang side by side to break the silence and bear witness to violence against women,” said Denise Fraser-Vaselakos, project director.
Shirt colors signify violence against women: White—for murder victims; Blue or Green—survivors of childhood sexual assault or incest; Yellow or Beige—survivors of assault or domestic violence; Red or Pink—survivors of rape or sexual assault; and purple—victims of abuse based on their sexual orientation.

According to Fraser-Vaselakos, the project began when women noticed 51,000 U.S. women were murdered by partners during the time that 58,000 men were killed in Vietnam.

BACKGROUND: VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

• Every nine seconds a woman is battered, every minute a woman is raped, every day four women are murdered by partners
• Six of 10 women raped are under age 18, three of 10 are under age 11
• The American Medical Association has declared domestic violence an epidemic
• The March of Dimes names battery as the top cause of birth defects
• The American Osteopathic Association calls for continued education on domestic violence.

CLOTHESLINE PROJECT BACKGROUND

Founded in 1990, the Clothesline Project (CLP) is a program started on Cape Cod, Mass. to address the issue of violence against women. It is a vehicle for women affected by violence to express their emotions by decorating a shirt. They then hang the shirt on a clothesline to be viewed by others as testimony to the problem of violence against women.

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