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A group in Michigan have joined the national effort to educate people about the extent of violence and the impact that it has on women.
Their message is, "No means no." project began in 1990 with a group of women called the Cape Cod Women's Agenda. Their desire was to make the public aware of what the extent, prevalence and impact of violence against women is.
They hung a clothesline across the village green in Hyannis, Massachusetts with 31 T-shirts that had been designed by survivors of assault, rape and incest. As women viewed the shirts others came forward and created their own shirts and the line just kept growing. Their are now over 300 local Clothesline Projects nationally and internationally and an estimate of 35,000 shirts.
The Livingston Area Council Against Spouse Abuse, in Michigan, has joined the national effort. They want to encourage those who are survivors of sexual assault and their supporters to share their experiences by writing a statement against rape and violence and dropping the shirt off at the council.
This month is Sexual Assault Awareness and Child Abuse Prevention. Their will be many of the shirts on display in the libraries in Livingston County. Some of the messages on the shirts are written to their attackers.
Candy Jones-Guerin, marketing and community relations director for the council said, "It's a way sexual assault survivors can speak out and have their voices heard. "Sometimes people knock on our door and ask to do a shirt for the collection. Sometimes they are students at high school. It can be anybody who wants to speak out."
According to freep.com Jones-Guerin said they have more than 300 shirts in their collection now from when they started several years ago.
Jones-Guerin also said "I think the biggest part is to give a survivor a voice.
"By giving them an opportunity to express what they want, it's giving them their voice back. It's important for a survivor to know someone is listening to them. It gives them their power back after it was taken away from them."
Last year the council gave counseling services to 161 men, women, boys and girls. In the group were 31 children ages 5 to 12.
They offer a 24-hour crisis line, workshops plus help the police and other agencies that investigate sexual assault cases.
According to this site,
The shirts are color coded to show the form of abuse and whether the victim survived the abuse they experienced.
White represents women who died because of violence;
Yellow or beige represents battered or assaulted women;
Red, pink, and orange are for survivors of rape and sexual assault;
Blue and green t-shirts represent survivors of incest and sexual abuse;
Purple or lavender represents women attacked because of their sexual orientation;
Black is for women attacked for political reasons.
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Good project and excellent report. No does mean no.
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@ Susan Duclos
Good project and excellent report. No does mean no.
Thanks Susan.
It is such a shame at the amount of abuse that children, women and even some men endure. -
@ Cynthia T. [Picasso]
Thanks Susan.
It is such a shame at the amount of abuse that children, women and even some men endure.
I have a real problem with abuse, whether it is a man abused, a woman and especially a child.
It is something growing in our society, and bluntly speaking, it sucks. -
@ Susan Duclos
I have a real problem with abuse, whether it is a man abused, a woman and especially a child.
It is something growing in our society, and bluntly speaking, it sucks.
I saw my mother abused and it is something that I hate and always saddens me. -
My thanks to whoever put the picture up. The picture is great.
I can't figure out how to put pictures up in this new format. ;-(
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@ Cynthia T. [Picasso]
My thanks to whoever put the picture up. The picture is great.
I can't figure out how to put pictures up in this new format. ;-(
You're very welcome. - Great story Cynthia.
BTW, on Monday we'll publish a short guide / overview on how to upload pictures in this new format and we'll send you a link.
Cheerio,
DJ staffer -
Thanks for doing this story, Cynthia! I'd never heard about this before and absolutely am glad to see that there is such an effort made to make the public aware.
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@ Susan Duclos
Good project and excellent report. No does mean no. Agree. Besides the T-shirt, the parents should start teaching this from day 1 and make them respect others. -
@ Digital Journal Staff
You're very welcome. - Great story Cynthia.
BTW, on Monday we'll publish a short guide / overview on how to upload pictures in this new format and we'll send you a link.
Cheerio,
DJ staffer
Thank you staff!!!!!!
No wonder DJ is so great. You all are so helpful!!!! A great site to be a part of. -
@ Debra Myers (skyangel)
Thanks for doing this story, Cynthia! I'd never heard about this before and absolutely am glad to see that there is such an effort made to make the public aware.
Thanks Deb.
I had never heard about them either. I saw in freep.com about this being done in a county here in Michigan. I decided to check and see what it was about and how it was started.
My mother was abused by my dad and my older sister was terribly abused by her good for nothing second husband.
So this is a subject that unfortunately I have been touched by. -
@ Chris V. (cgull)
Agree. Besides the T-shirt, the parents should start teaching this from day 1 and make them respect others.
Parents need to teach their children to respect others.
The problem is when dad is abusive then the sons will most likely be abusive. The daughters will marry or live with someone who is abusive and the chain of abuse continues. -
FANTASTIC ARTICLE!!!!
Any method that draws attention to abuse victims is warranted but this is way cool!
I'm a survivor on many levels and it makes me sad that others still endure abuse-physical and emotional.
THANK YOU for doing this story.
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@ Nikki W (karateblossom)
FANTASTIC ARTICLE!!!!
Any method that draws attention to abuse victims is warranted but this is way cool!
I'm a survivor on many levels and it makes me sad that others still endure abuse-physical and emotional.
THANK YOU for doing this story.
Thank you KB.
It is an innovative way to bring attention to a continuing problem. It should also be helpful to victims and survivors to tell their stories.
Even children that observed a parent or sibling being abused are also victims I would think. -
Cynthia-yes, I think they are victims too!
Children are such vulnerable little beings and just witnessing someone being abused can mess them up for the rest of their life.
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@ Nikki W (karateblossom)
Cynthia-yes, I think they are victims too!
Children are such vulnerable little beings and just witnessing someone being abused can mess them up for the rest of their life.
Interesting as I have a vivid memory of my two sisters and myself being sick and of something terrible going on for a couple of hours.
It ended with my Dad hitting my mother repeatedly after having someone drive her to a local bar to find him. He had gone out to get something that we needed and he ended up at the bar for several hours.
This and other memories makes me hate abuse plus having a real hard time of ever having any sympathy for an abuser. -
This report couldn't have come at a better time as as my son and daughter-in-law were leaving last night, we were talking about her sister and how the sister's boyfriend is a lazy, abusive piece of sh**. Well, when they got home last night, they found out that this piece of dirt had attacked my son's mother-in-law and they FINALLY said enough and had him arrested. My daughter-in-law's sister also came forward and admitted how much of a dirt bag this guy is...so we're now hoping that justice can be served. The worse part was that the m-i-l was holding this guy's baby all while he was attacking her!
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@ Debra Myers (skyangel)
This report couldn't have come at a better time as as my son and daughter-in-law were leaving last night, we were talking about her sister and how the sister's boyfriend is a lazy, abusive piece of sh**. Well, when they got home last night, they found out that this piece of dirt had attacked my son's mother-in-law and they FINALLY said enough and had him arrested. My daughter-in-law's sister also came forward and admitted how much of a dirt bag this guy is...so we're now hoping that justice can be served. The worse part was that the m-i-l was holding this guy's baby all while he was attacking her!
Deb that is terrible but how many times do these worthless pieces of crap get away with it because their victims will nor report it.
If it does get reported it seems like a lot of the times the victim or victims will not press charges.
When my sister was being abused by the B------ that abused her you didn't report them then. Your tough luck for marrying someone like that. -
@ Cynthia T. [Picasso]
Deb that is terrible but how many times do these worthless pieces of crap get away with it because their victims will nor report it.
If it does get reported it seems like a lot of the times the victim or victims will not press charges.
When my sister was being abused by the B------ that abused her you didn't report them then. Your tough luck for marrying someone like that.
Well this wasn't the first time that she'd been physically attacked by this jerk, but it was the last time she'd put up w/it. She's older than me...at least in her late 50s or early 60s. He hurt her wrist and her neck...so he got a lot more violent than he'd been in the past. This is one of those idiots that drinks his bravery...cuz when he's sober he doesn't act like an ass.
The thinking that a woman has to put up with such abuses because she married the guy is B.S. No one, absolutely no one, deserves abuse like that...mentally or emotionally. As well, it needs to be stressed that 99% of the time, it's not their fault that they were abused. -
@ Debra Myers (skyangel)
Well this wasn't the first time that she'd been physically attacked by this jerk, but it was the last time she'd put up w/it. She's older than me...at least in her late 50s or early 60s. He hurt her wrist and her neck...so he got a lot more violent than he'd been in the past. This is one of those idiots that drinks his bravery...cuz when he's sober he doesn't act like an ass.
The thinking that a woman has to put up with such abuses because she married the guy is B.S. No one, absolutely no one, deserves abuse like that...mentally or emotionally. As well, it needs to be stressed that 99% of the time, it's not their fault that they were abused.
The problem is the victim is usually also mentally abused and she comes to believe that it is her fault.
You are so right that it is NOT the victims fault and she should not put up with it. No one should have to endure life living like that.
It is even worse when children observe their mother being abused or even worse when the children are also abused.
I hope that the lady you have mentioned files charges against her abuser. -
@ Cynthia T. [Picasso]
The problem is the victim is usually also mentally abused and she comes to believe that it is her fault.
You are so right that it is NOT the victims fault and she should not put up with it. No one should have to endure life living like that.
It is even worse when children observe their mother being abused or even worse when the children are also abused.
I hope that the lady you have mentioned files charges against her abuser.
She did and so did her daughter. The sad thing is that this gal, who's in her mid-20s, has a 7-8 yo and a baby that's soon to be a year old, w/one on the way again, in August. Unbelievable, ya know? And they are dirt poor...he won't work and when they have money, he'll buy beer before buying food or diapers! They rely on their respective families for help in keeping food in the house!!! But she isn't on public assistance at this point. -
@ Debra Myers (skyangel)
She did and so did her daughter. The sad thing is that this gal, who's in her mid-20s, has a 7-8 yo and a baby that's soon to be a year old, w/one on the way again, in August. Unbelievable, ya know? And they are dirt poor...he won't work and when they have money, he'll buy beer before buying food or diapers! They rely on their respective families for help in keeping food in the house!!! But she isn't on public assistance at this point.
To bad that she stuck with the good for nothing for so long. I hope he spends some time in jail and that she doesn't go back to him.
She probably should go on public assistance at least for awhile and try to get her life together. Maybe after the baby is born if family would help with the care of the children she could get a job. Getting a job could help her self-esteem which I am sure has taken a beating. -
@ Cynthia T. [Picasso]
To bad that she stuck with the good for nothing for so long. I hope he spends some time in jail and that she doesn't go back to him.
She probably should go on public assistance at least for awhile and try to get her life together. Maybe after the baby is born if family would help with the care of the children she could get a job. Getting a job could help her self-esteem which I am sure has taken a beating.
It has taken a beating, no pun intended. She is one of these gals that seems to find all the abusive ones...but then again, she is bipolar, which doesn't help either. -
@ Debra Myers (skyangel)
It has taken a beating, no pun intended. She is one of these gals that seems to find all the abusive ones...but then again, she is bipolar, which doesn't help either.
What a shame. Is she on medication?
Her kids probably don't have a very good chance of growing up without some major problems also. -
@ Cynthia T. [Picasso]
What a shame. Is she on medication?
Her kids probably don't have a very good chance of growing up without some major problems also.
No she's not on meds, although she should be. At my son's wedding this gal and her cousin, both who were bride's maids, got into a knock-down hair-pulling slug-fest! I couldn't believe that they would pull that crap on someone's wedding day, ya know?
Yeah...those kids are going to have problems, and I have a gut feeling that says that their grandmother (the one who got roughed-up yesterday) may end up raising them, like she did w/the oldest child! -
@ Debra Myers (skyangel)
No she's not on meds, although she should be. At my son's wedding this gal and her cousin, both who were bride's maids, got into a knock-down hair-pulling slug-fest! I couldn't believe that they would pull that crap on someone's wedding day, ya know?
Yeah...those kids are going to have problems, and I have a gut feeling that says that their grandmother (the one who got roughed-up yesterday) may end up raising them, like she did w/the oldest child!
What a shame to do something like that at a wedding.
I would think the older child already has problems.
Hopefully they would be better off with their grandmother.
She should do something so that she doesn't continue to get pregnant. -
@ Cynthia T. [Picasso]
What a shame to do something like that at a wedding.
I would think the older child already has problems.
Hopefully they would be better off with their grandmother.
She should do something so that she doesn't continue to get pregnant.
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The clothesline project brings awareness to assault victims
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