My Sister’s Place manages and maintains D.C. The Clothesline Project,  a display of shirts created by survivors of gender-based violence. The personal stories and pictures are a testimony to the reality of violence against women and the strength of survivors. The shirts are placed on a clothesline to be displayed in public spaces for viewing.

The concept of The Clothesline Project was originally inspired by the AIDS Quilt. Both projects use art to bring a personal perspective to the grave statistics of deadly epidemics. The Clothesline Project uses an aspect of “women’s work” as a medium to get a message across. Carol A. Chichetto, one of the Clothesline Project’s founding members, explains:

Doing the laundry has always been considered women’s work, and in the days of close-knit neighborhoods, women often exchanged information over backyard fences while hanging their clothes out to dry. The concept of the Clothesline Project was simple, let each woman tell her own story in her own unique way. It was and is a way of airing society’s dirty laundry.

Through the Clothesline Project, women are able to speak out in a collective voice against the abuse they have suffered. This process empowers the victims who have suffered in silence to speak out and become survivors.

The Clothesline Project is unique in that it provides both healing opportunities for survivors of gender-based violence while serving to prevent gender-based violence through awareness-building. The Clothesline Project is an extremely powerful display that no one walks away from unchanged. The horrible stories and the large number of shirts make it impossible for viewers to dismiss violence against women as exaggerated or unimportant. The shirts educate about the many different types of violence committed against women. For anyone who does not believe that violence against women is a serious problem, just ten minutes spent reading the shirts will convince them otherwise.

HER STORY

The Clothesline Project was founded by members of the Cape Cod Women’s Agenda in 1990. The group displayed 31 T-shirts designed by women survivors of assault, rape, and incest across a village green. Viewers of the display added their T-shirts to the line and the Clothesline Project expanded. The organizers of the Clothesline Project had three objectives:

• To educate the public about the extent of violence against women and the impact it has on individuals, their families, and friends.
• To encourage survivors to come forward and break the silence by creating a shirt for the Clothesline Project.
• To help survivors with the healing process.

In order to provide more opportunities for women to become involved with the Clothesline Project, the founding mothers expanded to a global level.  The Clothesline Project’s national statistics reveal that, through grass roots organizing, there are now more than 300 Clothesline Projects located nationally and internationally, with an estimated 35,000 to 50,000 shirts. Chichetto says, “even after 12 years of activism I am amazed at the impact the project has on young women and men. At least 30 percent of our organizers are brand new activists who have chosen the Clothesline Project as their first step into the political arena.” The first national display took place on April 8-9, 1995 and consisted of thousands of shirts displayed on the mall during NOW’s “Rally for Women’s Lives” in Washington, D.C.