The walking wounded

(chick to enlarge the pictures)
Yesterday I had a very sobering experience. I attended an event called the Clothesline Project at UVU. Twice a year tee shirts are hung up in a large room that have various statements or testimonials written on them by someone who was abused in a myriad of sad and terrible ways. The color of the tee shirt represents the type of abuse that was suffered by the author of the writing on the shirt. Yellow shirts represent individuals who are survivors of physical assault, pink, red or orange represent survivors of rape or sexual assault, blue or green represent survivors of incest or childhood sexual abuse, lavender or purple represent survivors of attacks suffered due to sexual orientation, black for those disabled as a result of an attach or assaulted because of a disability, grey or brown for survivors of emotional, spiritual or verbal abuse and white for individuals who died as a result of violence.

There we hundreds, maybe even more than a thousand, tee shirts handing in the room. All the shirts in the display were made by people in Utah County who visited the display, reflecting the reality that violence is a problem everywhere, even in Utah County

The main objective of this project is to raise awareness of these crimes that are going on in our very own community. The statements I read were written by people who have suffered abuse in all the ways described above, right here in our own little happy valley. We don't often see or even think of the insidious types of abuse that are being inflicted on innocent people right under our noses. We go about our lives, generally unaware of the neglected or abused wife or husband, child or son or daughter who lives near by.

Another objective of the Clothesline Project is to educate those who have been abused and to let them know of the resources they can access to help them. There is also the need to educate all people so that this abuse is stopped, so that it is brought out into the light of day and shown for the evil that it is. Writing the tee shirts also gives many of the abused a way to release their hurt, betrayal and anger and to move on and heal. We need to send a message that this type of behavior is wrong, immoral and so very damaging to those who are the victims. One of my good friends is the victim of severe childhood abuse that has scarred her mind and soul in unrepairable ways.

Do we need stronger laws? Do we need better enforcement of the laws we have? Do we need to speak out when we see or hear of abuse in our own circle of influence? Do we need to protect one another and say that this behavior is not OK and that we won't be quiet about it? We need to act to stop it, one person at a time, one family at a time, one neighborhood at a time, one state at a time and finally, one nation at a time.