Southeast participates in Clothesline Project

This past week, Southeast Missouri State University's Campus Violence and Prevention Program hosted the “Clothesline Project.” The Clothesline Project was established in 1990 in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, with the idea to bring attention to violence against women. Women who have been afflicted by violence decorate a shirt to show show their emotions.

The program has spread throughout the world, with people taking on their own version of the project.

“Because it is a national movement, many people have taken it and made it their own, so it's for many other reasons,” Becky Crouse, a social work student at Southeast, said. “We have chosen the issue of domestic, intimate partner violence to focus our event on. We basically asked any survivors or victims of domestic violence to come out and decorate a T-shirt for us.”

The Clothesline Project is not just specifically for victims of domestic violence, it is also a vehicle for those who want to show their support.

“Anyone who wants to show their support, they get to decorate a clothespin, so whenever you put it on the clothes line, it’s like the supporters are supporting the victims,” Crouse said.

Education is also something the clothesline project wishes to instill in others.

“We're trying to educate people, so we have plenty of educational information out here,” Crouse said. “We’re trying to give people a little information on the signs and symptoms of domestic violence, signs of a potential abuser. And as far as that goes to also let them know the resources that are available to them or to anyone that they may know of that may need help.”

In Cape Girardeau alone, there are many avenues for victims to reach out for help. For one, the Safe House for Women is an avenue that the Clothesline Project at Southeast partnered with. All the donations that were made during the event went straight to the Safe House, which is a shelter that takes in victims of domestic violence. There is also First Call For Help, which is a both a confidential and free information and referral program that was constructed with trained professionals to answer calls and direct the caller to relevant resources. Anyone can use this service as there is no eligibility requirement. The phone number for First Call For Help is (573) 334-4357.

“There's just many resources in the community, right here on campus, which is where our focus is with the campus violence prevention program,” Crouse said. “They are here to serve the students, to give anybody advice or help that they can in any kind of abusive situations like that.”

The Clothesline Project can be held anytime throughout the world, but at Southeast, the aim is to host it on a regular basis.

“Here at SEMO, it is semester based,” Crouse said. “This is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, which is why we chose this month to do it. But, the national movement itself, The Clothesline Project, it goes on all the time.”

Students that have seen the project going on in the University Center have agreed for the need to address these issues.

“I think it's a great organization,” Bree Armer, senior psychology student, said. “It's a really empowering way for people to encourage survivors of abuse and also to remember those who have unfortunately lost their lives due to the violence. Expressing themselves in this way also acts as a type of therapy that can help with what they have been through.”