UNA Clothesline Project ‘exorcises demons,’ raises abuse awareness

Junior Maegan Bradford holds up her shirt for The Clothesline Project which took place in the GUC Oct. 16.

The UNA Women’s Center, in conjunction with Residence Life, held the The Clothesline Project on Oct. 16 in the Guillot University Center from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The Clothesline Project is a national project to raise awareness about domestic violence and to help fight it, said Emily Kelley, coordinator of Women’s Studies.

“At Clothesline project, you come and design t-shirts with messages about domestic violence,” Kelley said. “But we expand it a little bit so that people can put messages about anything that may be troubling them. I tell them that they can exorcise any of their demons.”

We need to understand the impact that Domestic Violence has on its victims, Kelley said.

“I think it’s important that people realize that domestic violence frequently ends in death,” Kelley said. “Not only that, but it scars people for their entire lives, particularly children who are witnesses to domestic violence. Domestic violence makes childhood very painful.”

A lot of people know how prevalent domestic violence is, said freshman Désirée Garner.

“It’s one of those things that stay under the radar,” Garner said. “When I was growing up, my family dealt with domestic violence, and there was serious stuff that we had to deal with.”

The Clothesline Project is a definite help, Garner said while designing her Bob Marley “don’t worry, be happy” shirt.

“I think the shirt and clothesline will definitely have an effect on domestic violence,” Garner said. “It lets me be an advocate of ‘stop the violence’.”

Domestic abuse isn’t always physical, said Erica Gholson, a graduate student and survivor of domestic violence.

“I was in a 2-year relationship and was emotionally abused,” Gholson said. “He never really put his hands on me, so you couldn’t see any signs of physical abuse. Everybody thought that we were this perfect couple, but that just goes to show that abuse really is occurring all around us.”

At first, I didn’t associate what I went through with abuse, Gholson said.

“There was a domestic violence dispute in my family when I was younger, and it was strictly physical,” Gholson said. “ I think when I found myself in this situation, I didn’t know that it was considered abuse because it wasn’t physical. So I think it’s great that this project is highlighting such a taboo issue and opening that conversation on campus.”

I felt like I could use my experience to help others, Gholson said.

“When I walked up to the table, the lady said ‘cast out any of your demons’,” Gholson said. “I need to do this for me, but I also feel like I need to do this for other people who are struggling with emotional abuse and might need the tiniest bit of encouragement.”