By LAURIE FISHER
A celebration of survival will give a voice to long-held pain, shame and suffering felt by local women in the Utah County Clothesline Project this week.
In the past, survivors of physical and sexual abuse have designed T-shirts and displayed them with the help of the BYU group VOICE in the Clothesline Project.
Shirts are decorated with different colors symbolizing the different types of violence women suffer. Shirts, painted with heart-felt emotion, display messages such as “Embrace me. I am all alone,” or whatever the survivor needs to express.
“By seeing the shirts, it helps you understand some of the different stages people go through and emotions people have,” said Susan Aldrich Ferguson, a senior from Long Island, N.Y., majoring in sociology teaching.
For those who come view the shirts, there is an education about the realities of abuse, putting a picture behind the statistics.
Most importantly, for the abuse survivors who have made the shirts, it serves a therapeutic purpose, enabling women to confront difficult issues and allowing them to break their silence.
For many other women, the project is the first outlet they trust to start sharing their pain after experiencing physical or sexual abuse.
The Clothesline Project is a powerful, eye-opening experience because of the strong representations of honest, real feelings, Ferguson said.
“I’m heartbroken that there are so many shirts,” said Christina Kemeny, a senior from Troy, Mich., majoring in English.
Kemeny and Ferguson are project coordinators for the Clothesline. They are concerned that people who attend the display come at least somewhat prepared to see the depictions of emotion, poetry, stories and pictures of the abused women. Often the portrayals are not pleasant, but it is important to remember the shirts serve a vital purpose.
“We feel there’s more benefit than hurt that can come from the display,” Kemeny said.
“Especially at this campus, abuse is an issue most people don’t feel comfortable talking about. However, I think it is healthier to honestly address these issues as much as possible,” she said.
Each shirt displayed is different and survivors are not limited to what they can create as part of their personal healing experience. Shirts can represent anything from despair and hatred to hope and faith because each survivor is in a different stage of their healing.
More than T-shirts, the project provides a brief history and background explanation about the display. Information packets about resources for abuse survivors are available, and BYU therapists are on-hand to answer questions.
Survivors will also have the opportunity to go into a private room and paint their own T-shirts to add to the Clothesline Project.
The more than 100 shirts displayed have been designed by people of the Provo/Orem community. And for the first time the Clothesline Project will be held at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church on 50 W. 200 North for community access.
“While the process of raising awareness about physical and sexual abuse is painful, it is a matter which all of us must face. We must all work together, not only to raise awareness, but also to aid survivors in their healing and to create a society where such abuse is not only not tolerated but where it is prevented,” said Reverend Dr. Alan C. Tull from St. Mary’s.
The Clothesline Project is scheduled for display on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from noon to 7 p.m.
“It is great to be able to have it in our community where we can be neighbors to each other and understand we can comfort and help people,” Ferguson said.
