The Clothesline Project 2021

By the Campbell River and North Island Transition Society

A moving display of decorated T-shirts created by people who have been affected by abuse will be visible at Rose Harbour in downtown Campbell River to mark Prevention of Violence Against Women Week April 11 – 17.

The Clothesline Project, hosted locally by the Campbell River and North Island Transition Society, began in the U.S. in 1990 as a way for women affected by violence to express their emotions and experience by decorating a T-shirt. The shirt is then hung on a clothesline to be viewed by others, as testimony to the problem of violence against women. It’s a display of society’s ‘dirty laundry’ that aims to take the issue of violence against women out of the shadows.

Throughout Prevention of Violence against Women Week, T-shirts will be displayed on the balconies and publicly visible areas of Rose Harbour, the second-stage housing provided by the Campbell River and North Island Transition Society at 1116 Dogwood Street. Decorated T-shirts may be a statement against any kind of violence, or a statement of hope for the future. Blue and red T-shirts represent sexual abuse, yellow or beige T-shirts represent abuse by a partner, white T-shirts represent murder, purple T-shirts represent assault because of sexual orientation and green T-shirts represent children who have been affected by violence.

The Clothesline Project and Prevention of Violence against Women Week (April 11 – April 17) is an opportunity for our community to reflect on violence against women and to speak out against it. Living without violence is a basic human right, but studies show that 760,000 or four per cent of Canadians over the age of 15 have experienced abuse from an intimate partner. Women are more likely than men to experience severe and frequent violence from a spouse or someone they are dating.

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If you are in an abusive relationship, confidential help is available at:
Ann Elmore Transition House: 250-286-3666 (telephone) or 250-895-1773 (text)
Community-Based Victim Services: 250-287-2421

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CLOTHESLINE PROJECT 2018

By the Campbell River and North Island Transition Society

The community was invited to the Campbell River Spirit Square Thursday, April 19th, 2018 from 10am to 4pm to view the Clothesline Project - a powerful display of decorated t-shirts created by people who have been affected by abuse. The Clothesline Project takes place in communities all over the world. It is hosted locally by the Campbell River and North Island Transition Society, the Campbell River Women’s Support Centre, Community-Based Victim Services, the RCMP Domestic Violence Coordinator, KDC Health and the Stopping the Violence Outreach Program. All members of the community were invited to visit the Clothesline Project for refreshments and the opportunity to decorate a t-shirt to hang on the clothesline.

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For more information on the Clothesline Project, visit How You Can Help.