Hundreds of humble T-shirts, some inscribed with messages of hope, some of despair, will hang on clotheslines at the UND Memorial Union Ballroom this week to send a message about how violence and sexual assault affects families in North Dakota.
The Clothesline Project shirts, about 400 in all, bear the words and stories of children and adults who have suffered violence and sexual abuse.
"Some of them are incredibly sad, some are very uplifting," said Kay Mendick, director of the UND Women's Center, which sponsors the 15th annual Clothesline Project and Take Back the Night Rally at UND. Its co-sponsors are Community Violence Intervention Center and North Dakota Council on Abused Women's Service.
The Clothesline Project T-shirts will be in the UND Memorial Union Ballroom from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. today through Thursday and from 8 a.m. to noon Friday. Each T-shirt color has a different message.
The red shirts were created by children who have witnessed violence or who have had violence inflicted on them.
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The blue and green shirts were decorated by survivors of incest or childhood sexual trauma; the yellow and beige by survivors of domestic violence; the pink and orange by survivors of sexual assault or rape; and the purple by survivors of violence because of sexual orientation.
The white T-shirts are in memory of those who have died. They have been created by surviving friends and family members, Mendick said.
The Take Back the Night Rally will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday in the UND Memorial Ballroom. Allison and Jayme, survivors of violence and abuse, will speak, as will Tom Erickson, who will talk about how men can do more to prevent violence.
Although violence, rape and sexual assault still often are seen as "women's issues," they affect everyone, Mendick said. And no matter what strides women have made in society, they remain profound and pervasive problems, not just in North Dakota, but around the U.S. and the world.
Recent headlines tell the story: A Grand Forks woman who died just weeks ago in a murder-suicide. The testimony of Elizabeth Smart, a teen rape and abduction victim in California, who has been testifying at her alleged kidnapper's competency hearing. And women in Afghanistan who have no legal right to take their children with them when they flee abusive marriages.
Many of the shirts represent hope, Mendick said.
"The reason the people come forward to make a shirt -- and there are many reasons -- but the mains one is it helps with their own healing," she said. "It gets the event out of them and onto their shirt. It's a way of educating all of us on the affect of violence."
At the Clothesline Project, those who want can decorate a shirt of their own.
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North Dakota's Clothesline Project had its first public display in early 1995 in the Great Hall of the Capitol Building during the legislative session. There were 114 shirts on display at that time.
Alpha Chi Omega sorority will sell luminaries this week at UND Memorial Union to light the way along University Avenue for the Take Back the Night Rally. They're $1 each.
Reach Tobin at (701) 780-1134; (800) 477-6572, ext. 134; or send e-mail to ptobin@gfherald.com .
