‘A unique way to heal’ | Hood County Clothesline Project gives voice to sexual assault victims

We all have a story to tell.

But some cut deeper than others.

The past few weeks, you may have noticed a clothesline display on the Historic Granbury Square across from 1890 Grille & Lounge with various shirts hanging up that display words and images in marker.

These shirts each tell a story — of pain, violence, and abuse at the hands of someone else.

Known as the Clothesline Project, this powerful display of T-shirts is dedicated to raising awareness about the reality of violence in our society. Each T-shirt is decorated by survivors of violence or in honor of someone who has experienced violence.

According to the Clothesline Project website, the program first originated in Cape Cod, Massachusetts in 1990 to address the issue of violence against women. It is an outlet for women affected by violence to express their emotions by decorating a shirt. The shirts are then hung on a clothesline to be viewed by others as a testimony to the problem of violence against women. With the support of many, it has since spread worldwide.

Last April, Mission Granbury’s Ada Carey Shelter for Women and Children started the Clothesline Project in Hood County in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

“We had a total of 26 shirts (that were hanging up last year),” said Rebbecca Freeman, Ada Carer Shelter program director. “We also have a bucket out there to drop a clothespin because maybe you're not comfortable with making a shirt, but you can drop a clothespin in the bucket, and last year, we had 36 clothespins.”

In total, 62 sexual assault victims — or individuals who knew a sexual assault victim — came forward last year to share their story.

"That was my fear last year when we did it for the first time was that nobody would participate,” said Justin Rossner, director of programs for CASA and victim services. “It was such a heavy subject that I was afraid nobody would want to be associated with that, so the fact that it is getting anything added to it is actually really exciting. To me, what that means is that not only do individuals feel safe enough in our community to express themselves, but the amount of people who are there observing — whether they're learning it for the first time, or they're understanding and admitting that this is happening in our community — it's working as its intended purpose, so that is very exciting to me.”

For the project's second year, the clothesline itself was improved and designed by Granbury High School seniors.

“We wanted to do something that was sturdier and is more stable, so Brad Eppler and his senior class designed it, built it, and then they came out to the square and volunteered their time to put it together for us,” Freeman said. “That's getting the kids involved and it's really spreading awareness in all the right places.”

This year, the clothesline has now been up for two weeks on Pearl St., with 12 community members participating in the project.

“If you have time, I recommend going and reading the shirts; it’s extremely impactful,” Freeman said. “And I think anybody just walking by and reading those shirts, it kind of hits home that this is in the community. It is out there, and it's not something that people think about or recognize.”

“One of the things that I think is most important is that it's allowing the survivor a unique way to heal,” Rossner said. “Silence is not what helps survivors heal. Being able to share essential information that becomes data — so that you can know what to look for when someone's being sexually assaulted — actually helps everyone figure out what needs to happen in order to help those people heal; it's a therapeutic outlet.”

Each T-shirt reflects the personal experience of its creator and may occasionally have some graphic material on them. This may include swear words, explicit, violent or sexual descriptions of the attack, or other statements that reflect the emotions and reality the individual experienced.

“They're not censored,” Freeman said. “They can write whatever they want to, so there's some powerful statements on there.”

Although the project is still in its infancy, both Freeman and Rossner said they plan to continue to hold the Clothesline Project in Granbury for many years to come.

“One of the things that is relative to any prevention and awareness campaign is trying to get people to see it and trying to get people to realize that it's here,” Rossner said. “So that's why we'll continue to do things like this to raise awareness for domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, poverty, all of those things because the people that need to see it and be educated are not necessarily the people that work at Mission Granbury; it's everyone. It's a community effort.”

Freeman added, “I'll continue to do it every April until they tell us we can't.”

The Clothesline Project will remain on the square until Monday, April 24, due to the timing of other local events.

Freeman urges individuals and sexual assault victims to express their feelings on a T-shirt before the end of the project this year.

Rossner also encourages Hood County residents to wear teal every Tuesday in support of Sexual Assault Awareness.

If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault, call the 24-hour crisis hotline at 844-579-6848 or Mission Granbury’s Ada Carey Family Violence Shelter hotline at 817-579-6848.