By Cinara Marquis
During the Vietnam War, 58,000 soldiers died, and during that same time period, 51,000 women across the globe were killed in domestic violence cases — this statistic sparked the “Clothesline Project” campaign.
“The initial idea was to create a visual display that could really amplify the voices of victims and survivors of domestic violence,” said Kim Irland, Title IX coordinator who organized the Clothesline Project at SUNY Plattsburgh “I really like it because I think the shirts visually humanize the behaviors, the impacts and the harm that people have lived and survived through.”
In the summer of 1990, an alliance of women’s organizations in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, decided to create an educational program that would raise awareness of the problem of violence against women. Many women in this alliance had experienced some form of violence in their lives and called for a provacative campaign that would allow for healing and collectivity, one of these women was visual artist Rachel Carey-Harper.
Inspired by the 1985 AIDS Memorial Quilt, Carey-Harper envisoned a clothesline as a vehicle for spreading awareness. Doing the laundry was considered women’s work and a clothesline could send the message of a person’s life — what clothes somebody wears can tell about their job, hobbies and activities.
Using the clothesline concept, Carey-Harper could share individuals unique stories through words or artwork on a shirt. The shirt would hang beside other shirts with similar messages offering solidarity and healing to survivors who literally turn their backs on their experiences and walk away.
After the original Clothesline Project displayed in October 1990, the campaign became international with hundreds of projects and an estimated 50,000 shirts on display.
The color of each shirt is representational of a harm.
White is for individuals who died due to violence.
Yellow or beige is for individuals who have been battered or assaulted.
Red, pink and orange represent survivors of rape and sexual assault.
Blue or green is for survivors of incest and sexual abuse.
Purple represents individuals attacked due to their sexual orientation.
Brown and grey is for survivors of emotional, verbal or spiritual abuse.
Black is for individuals assaulted for political reasons or those disabled as a result of an attack or assaulted because of a disability.
Irland arranged the clotheslines around the Angell College Center staircases, where many pass every day.
“I think this particular campaign is very powerful because you can set it up in a way that causes people to walk through an experience and have, hopefully, an emotional response that helps them to think more deeply about these issues,” Irland said.
This year, participants can write a message or make artwork on a paper T-shirt, which is hung on the second floor of the ACC above a table with information on the Clothesline Project and Title IX. The table is accessible at any time for the week of Oct. 7 to Oct. 11.
“I’ve seen people engage with the table, even when we couldn’t staff it, and this morning I came in and there were three more paper shirts filled out so I hung those up and people have been taking resources,” Irland said. “I think it’s a nice way to very quietly make the information available.”
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and Title IX has planned various programs, such as guest speakers, healing circles and workshops for the month. Upcoming events, such as the launch of a student support group focused on empowering healthy masculinity and a panel discussion about domestic violence will happen later in the month.
For more information about the Clothesline Project visit theclotheslineproject.org. Learn more about Title IX at https://www.plattsburgh.edu/plattslife/health-safety/title-ix/index.html. More information on the events surrounding Domestic Violence Awareness Month can be found in the Student-Digest and on Cardinal Link.
