Clothesline Project Helping Victims Express Catharsis

By CARTER PHILLIPS/Contributor 

Although abuse is not an everyday conversation, the Clothesline Project encourages discussion of the difficult topic. Every October, the Title IX office displays over 80 T-shirts with messages from abuse victims. The University Center’s stairway railings have shirts draped along them.

The project gives victims an uncensored outlet to express themselves. Additionally, it brings the problem of abuse to light as support to victims and help them heal.

“No One Deserves This. I Didn’t,” “I Don’t Fear You” and “Love Shouldn’t Hurt” are the words survivors of rape and sexual assault wrote on shirts.

“You (the victim) Are NOT Responsible For Other’s Emotions” and “I Was Just A Child” are messages of incest survivors.

“It is a hard pill to swallow, and I can only imagine how much courage these people had to have to put their trauma on display for the world,” Trey Ford, a student, said. “But I have nothing but respect and admiration as they continue on their journey of healing.”

Elizabeth Caulkins, a campus Title IX investigator, said the Clothesline Project first came to UT Tyler in 2019. It consisted of shirts borrowed from the East Texas Crisis Center, an emergency shelter for women and children escaping violence.

Since then, the shirts are from students, faculty and staff who have been abused or know someone who was abused.

White shirts honor someone who was killed by an abuser; yellow shirts represent survivors of physical assault and domestic violence; red, pink and orange shirts have messages from survivors of sexual assault; and blue and green display messages from victims of incest or childhood sexual abuse.

“When you look at the color of the shirts, that’s even more impactful than just having survivors paint shirts,” said Caulkins, who investigates violence against female students and coordinates the project.

Those who want to contribute a shirt are put in a private area to paint their message.

Caulkins said sometimes victims later alter their message as a sign that the abuse does not define them anymore. The shirts remain part of the collection as long as the creators want them displayed.

“It is empowering because either people are already sharing their story or it might be the first time they are opening up (about abuse),” Caulkins said.

The display encourages discussion.

“Growing up I was abused as a child and teenager,” said a student who asked not to be identified. “I was scared to go home from school each day and it all culminated into a point of planning suicide.”

The student eventually spoke about the abuse to others.

“I would not be here today if I had not told those closest to me during that time,” the student shared while looking at the shirts. “If one person can feel heard and be saved, then the entire project would have been worth it.”