The Clothesline Project

   OttawaGatineau Region

THE CLOTHESLINE PROJECT is a way to help people face the brutal reality about violence against women in our community and start to heal the damage. The project brings together local women who are survivors of violence to paint T-shirts as a testament to their experience. These deeply personal expressions are then hung on a clothesline for public display to air the issue of violence against women.

Few avenues exist for women to speak openly and honestly about the violence they have experienced. For many survivors, making a shirt and finally seeing their story hang in unison with the stories of other local   women allows them to own their pain and express their anger.

Women paint to give voice on issues on many types of violence, sexual assault, battery, child abuse, emotional abuse, incest, economic abuse, political abuse, assaults due to sexual orientation and death.

OBJECTIVES OF THIS EVENT:

For more information contact: Valerie Collicott
WISE  (613) 230-6700

Silent no more!

We're Hanging Out Our Dirty Laundry
June 1, 2006
Women’s MonumentMintoPark 
Elgin St. & Gilmour St.
4 – 7 P.M.

Events of the Day:

How it Began                    

The Clothesline Project originated in Cape Cod, Massachusetts in 1990.  A local women's group was searching for a way to break the silence about the horrific extent of violence against women. Artist Rachel Carey-Harper came up with a powerfully simple concept of a clothesline on which women could publicly air their violent experiences. Those first thirty-one shirts blowing in the sea breeze at a vacation resort proclaimed the message that violence against women is everywhere and must be tolerated nowhere.

The U.S. Clothesline was built around a double metaphor: “Doing the laundry has always been considered women’s work, and in the days of close-knit neighbourhoods, women often exchanged information over backyard fences while hanging their clothes out to dry. The concept of the Clothesline Project was simple—let each woman tell her own story, in her own unique way, and hang it out for all to see. It was and is a way of airing society’s dirty laundry.”

Today, more than 250 Clothesline projects have been created around the world displaying the shirts of more than 35,000 survivors.

Presented By:
Supporters:

Maison d’Amitié                                        (613) 747-9136

Nelson House                                            (613) 225-0533

Interval House                                            (613) 234-8511

Women's Place                                          (613) 231-5144

Women's Initiatives for Safer Environments   (613) 230-6700

Regional Co-ordinating Committee

To End Violence Against Women                (613) 725-3601 Western Ottawa Community     Ext. 105

Resource Centre                                          (613) 591-3686

CALACS francophone d'Ottawa Carleton    (613) 789-8096

Family Services Ottawa                                 (613) 725-3601

Eastern Ottawa Community Resource

Centre                                                           (613) 741-6025

Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre                            (613) 562-2334

Immigrant Women Services of Ottawa            (613) 729-3145

Catholic Family Service of Ottawa Carleton    (613) 233-8478

Carlington Community and Health Services      (613) 722-4000

La Présence                                                     (613) 241-8297

Harmony House                                               (613) 233-3386

Minwaashin Lodge                                           (613) 741-5590

Sexual Assault Support Centre                         (613) 725-2160

Sexual Assault Treatment Program                    (613) 738-3762

The Sexual Assault Network                              (613) 725-3601 Ext.104

 Projet Corde à Linge
Région d’Ottawa-Gatineau

Le projet corde à linge permet de dénoncer le phénomène de la violence faite aux femmes dans la communauté et de mieux comprendre la triste réalité des femmes violentées. Le projet permet aussi aux survivantes d’entamer un processus de guérison. Dans le cadre de ce projet, les femmes survivantes, ainsi que les enfants témoins ou victimes de violence, sont invité (e)s à exprimer leur vécu de violence sur un T-shirt. Ces témoignages sont ensuite étalés sur une corde à linge dans le but de dénoncer la violence faite aux femmes et aux enfants.

Les femmes qui ont  subi de telles violences ont peu d’occasions d’en parler ouvertement et en toute honnêteté. Pour nombre d’entre elles, le projet est une occasion de dénoncer la violence dans leur vie. L’étalage des T-shirts sur une corde à linge représente le message qu’elles veulent livrer à la société toute entière. Ainsi, les femmes mettent fin à leur silence et expriment leur douleur et leur colère.  

Les femmes et les enfants pains pour donner une voix aux différentes formes d’abus telles que l’agression sexuelle, la violence, la violence psychologique, la violence économique, la violence physique, l’inceste, la violence faite aux lesbiennes et même, la violence qui mène jusqu’à la mort.

OBJECTIFS DU PROJET:

Pour de plus amples renseignements:
Valerie Collicott
WISE                                        (613) 230-6700

Fin au silence!

ON ÉTALE NOTRE LAVAGE SALLE  
1ier juin, 2006
Monument de femmes
Au Parc Minto 
Rue Elgin & rue Gilmour.
4– 7 P.M.

Évènement de la journée:

Historique                 

L’origine du projet remonte à 1990, alors que le Cape Cod Women’s Agenda cherchait à sensibiliser le publique au problème de la violence faite aux femmes. Un artiste du groupe proposa de créer un étalage publique, sur une corde à linge, des T-shirts dessinés par des survivantes. En plus de rompre le silence des femmes, les maillots flottant au vent lançait un message de protestation, de sensibilisation et de réconciliation.

 Aujourd’hui, il existe plus de 250 projets corde à linge à travers le monde, et plus de 35,000 T-shirts y ont été suspendus.

Présenté par:
Maison d’Amitié                                        (613) 747-9136
Nelson House                                            (613) 225-0533
Interval House                                            (613) 234-8511
Women's Place                                           (613) 231-5144

Women's Initiatives for Safer Environments           (613) 230-6700
Regional Co-ordinating Committee
To End Violence Against Women                            (613) 725-3601 Western Ottawa Community     Ext. 105
Resource Centre                                                     (613) 591-3686
CALACS francophone d'Ottawa Carleton               (613) 789-8096
Family Services Ottawa                                            (613) 725-3601
Eastern Ottawa Community Resource Centre            (613) 741-6025
Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre                                        (613) 562-2334
Immigrant Women Services of Ottawa                       (613) 729-3145
Catholic Family Service of Ottawa Carleton               (613) 233-8478
Carlington Community and Health Services                (613) 722-4000
La Présence                                                              (613) 241-8297
Harmony House                                                        (613) 233-3386
Minwaashin Lodge                                                    (613) 741-5590
Sexual Assault Support Centre                                  (613) 725-2160
Sexual Assault Treatment Program                            (613) 738-3762
The Sexual Assault Network                                     (613) 725-3601   Ext. 104