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“Airing Out Society’s Dirty Laundry”
The Partnership for a Healthier
Carroll County Inc., in conjunction
with the Local Management Board’s
Byrne Memorial Grant and with support
from the Domestic Violence
Coordinating Council, has organized
a gripping antiviolence display which is
being shown at various locations in
Carroll County. The exhibit shows
t-shirts in different colors
representing different types of
violence, with messages drawn on them by
Carroll County victims of verbal, sexual
o r
physical abuse or violence. The purpose
of the Project is to increase awareness
of the occurrence and impact of
violence, celebrate survival, and
provide an avenue for victims to heal
and to courageously break the silence
that often surrounds abuse.
The Carroll County Clothesline Project
is patterned after the
National Clothesline Project,
which was started, by a small group of
women in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in
1990. They wanted to find “a unique
way to take staggering, mind numbing
statistics and turn them into a
provocative ‘in-your-face’ educational
and healing tool”. They chose a
clothesline as their vehicle for raising
awareness about violence against women
because doing the laundry has been long
been considered women’s work. It also
refers to the support and information
that women have often exchanged over
backyard fences while hanging their
clothes out to dry.
The concept was simple – let each
woman tell her own story in her own
unique way, using words and or artwork
to decorate her shirt.
The Partnership modified the original
project by expanding it to include all
survivors of interpersonal violence, of
any gender. The t-shirts are color-coded
to represent seven different categories
of violence:
The t-shirts hang along with a display
of recent
local, state and national statistics
on the prevalence of violence in our
community, making it clear that
interpersonal violence is unacceptable.
It brings viewers face-to-face with the
painful and courageous stories
of their neighbors and friends. Comments
such as “This display was a
haunting reminder that some people live
with abuse every day” are heard.
Many say they never realized just how
many people violence impacts until the
display raised their level of awareness.
One viewer stated: “It is a
powerful reminder to treat everyone with
respect and it reminds me to remain
open-minded about people, because you
never know what’s going on in their
private lives”.
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“The Clothesline Project
serves as an educational
tool for those who come to
view it, becomes a healing
tool for those who make a
shirt and allows those still
suffering in silence to
understand that they are not
alone.” |
The project is about calling for an end
to violence. In “Break the Silence!” by
Donald J. Hunt, he said “more than
58,000 Americans died in the Vietnam
War. During that war 51,000 American
women were killed in the U.S., by men
who supp osedly
loved them. We built a wall to honor
those who died in Vietnam”. The people
who created the shirts and survived
violence and abuse “are as courageous as
any decorated combat veteran” as “they
too often had to stand alone”. The
Clothesline Project can be Carroll
County’s monument to courage.
At some time in our lives, almost
everyone will be touched by the threat
of intimate violence, either verbal or
physical. The Carroll County Clothesline
Project was started in 2004 and it was
displayed at over a dozen locations and
events within its first two months. The
t-shirts were originally created by
survivors in counseling, but have
attracted more contributions every time
it’s hung up for display. Currently,
there are 84 shirts as part of the
display.
The Carroll County Clothesline display
is available for display at any Carroll
County business, event or organization.
If you would like to host the
Clothesline display, please
contact us.
The display can be customized by size
limitations, or topic.
If you would like to make a t-shirt to
add to the display, we welcome your
creation. The shirts can be decorated
any way you wish -- with sharpie
markers, embroidery, paint, etc.
Multicolored shirts can be submitted to
represent multiple abuses. We ask that
there be no names or photographs on the
shirts so they remain anonymous.
Please bring or send completed shirts
to:
The Partnership for a Healthier Carroll
County, Inc.
535 Old Westminster Pike, Suite102
Westminster, MD 21157
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The following tables of facts are
displayed with the Clothesline Project
when it appears in the community: |
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The Clothesline Project
25% of women said they were
raped and or physically
assaulted by a partner.
- - - - - - -
Gay and Lesbian teens are
2-3 times more likely to
attempt suicide and account
for 30% of all completed
suicides.
- - - - - - -
45% of gay males and 20% of
lesbians experienced
physical or verbal assaults
while in high school.
- - - - - - -
22% of bisexual and lesbian
respondents reported a past
history of sexual abuse.
- - - - - - -
The US Department of Justice
states that “Homosexuals are
probably the most frequent
victims (of hate crimes) in
the United States”.
- - - - - - -
During the 6 months
following an episode of
domestic violence, 32% of
battered women are
victimized again.
- - - - - - -
Only 1 out of 17 cases of
domestic violence is
reported to police.
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The Clothesline Project
Violence Against Youth
• In 2006, there were 369
investigations of child
abuse in Carroll County and
32 arrests.
• In 2005, 895 victims were
referred to child protective
services in Carroll County
for physical abuse, neglect,
sexual abuse, and mental
injury.
• The Carroll County
Department of Juvenile
Services reported 225 youth
arrests for assault,
including both physical and
sexual.
• Carroll County Public
Schools had 16 weapons
violations recorded during
the 2005-2006 school year.
Violence Against
Adults
• In 2006 there were 279
cases filed with the Carroll
County court system for
domestic violence; and 349
cases for peace orders.
• From July –December, 2006,
479 new clients sought
domestic violence services
through Family and
Children’s Services of
Carroll County.
• The most recent data for
Carroll County shows there
were 362 forcible rapes and
aggravated assaults in
Carroll County (2005).
• 257 new clients were
served at Rape Crisis
Intervention Services in
Carroll County in 2006.
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Interpersonal Violence
Statistics
In the USA
In the United States, there
are 683,000 women forcibly
raped each year.
That’s 1871 per day
78 per hour
more than 1 per minute of
each day.
In Maryland
22,092 domestic violence
crimes were reported during
2005.
75% of reported domestic
violence victims are female;
24% are male.
The use of alcohol, drugs or
both by either the
perpetrator or the victim
was reported in 27% of the
documented domestic violence
incidents.
Individuals killed as a
result of domestic violence:
female adults – 29 female
children – 9
male adults – 14 male
children – 4
In Carroll County
According to 2005
information, there were 362
forcible rapes and
aggravated assaults
(United Crime Report,
Maryland State Police)
For January-June 2006,
there were 149 aggravated
assaults reported &16 rapes
reported.
(Uniform Crime Report,
Maryland State Police)
257 new clients were served
at Rape Crisis Intervention
Services in 2006.
(Rape Crisis Intervention
Services)
In 2006, there were 38
long-term abuse cases
investigated in long-term
care facilities.
(Carroll County Bureau of
Aging)
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