Hartland, Brighton Libraries Hang Shirts to Raise Awareness of Sexual Assault and Child Abuse

Lined up along the long, window-filled corridor, a wall of shirts hangs in neat rows, greeting library patrons in Brighton as they walk in the door. The scrawled, painted or slashed messages handwritten on the simple T-shirts range from the heartbreaking to the inspirational, but it’s the impact of seeing the collection together that seems to send the loudest message.

“The visual is so strong,” said Nancy Johnson, director of the Brighton District Library. “It becomes a person and not just a number.”

In recognition of April as Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Awareness Month, the Livingston Area Council Against Spouse Abuse or LACASA, is once again displaying its Clothesline Project in area libraries including Brighton and the main branch of the in the village area of Hartland.

The project, which is in its 13 year in Livingston County, was originally designed as a way to let survivors of sexual assault and child abuse find their voice. It runs through the end of the month.

"To say it out loud and to talk about it," said Linda Graham, the marketing and community relations director for LACASA. "The 'no talk' thing is huge for survivors of sexual assault of any kind. ... These are personal experiences and they’re not signed, but to have them express their feelings and to have them hang in the public like that is pretty big."

The shirts, which are all decorated by anonymous area survivors or someone who has a connection to a survivor, display private messages about abuse that typically gets covered up within society. Using the shirts as a symbol helps to generate discussion, according to Graham and she says she is pleased with the community's response to the project.

"I’ve heard stories from several different people that said people will really stop and look at those and really talk about it and start to discuss it," said Graham. "It’s really one of the ways to kind of step into somebody else’s shoes a bit and really, it makes them think about it and take it seriously."

A first for Cromaine

Sponsoring the collection for the first time this year, Cromaine library has the shirts displayed in its young adult section. Carol Taggart, the marketing manager for the library, says that although they haven't had too many questions regarding the project in the couple weeks they have been up, she did admit that some of her staff were affected by the messages currently on display.

“That’s one of the things about them," said Taggart. "Some of them are very touching and encouraging when you read them. And then others you read and when you think that these are made by younger people, it’s just so you can’t help but feel.” 

Johnson, who says that the Brighton library has supported the Clothesline Project for many years, believes that by putting the shirts and their messages in the public eye, it gives the community an opening to educate, discuss and prevent if necessary.

“It’s an opportunity for all of us to learn more about something that is, unfortunately, too easily forgotten in our community,” Johnson said. “We don’t think this happens in Livingston County, but we should know better.”

The reality is that a sexual assault occurs every two minutes somewhere in the United States, and according to Graham, out of the 179 child abuse cases that were brought forward to LACASA last year, 88 percent of those involved sexual abuse. 

Part of the Clothesline Project is also on display at the Tanger Outlet Center in Howell, as well as LACASA, but the local libraries seem to be the perfect fit for community outreach because the atmosphere typically found in a library sets the tone for education and awareness, according to Graham and Johnson.

"The library is the information center for all kinds of things," Johnson said. "We provide the things that help us know more about our community. ... It’s a wonderful beginning point for some families, to help understand."

With the Clothesline Project out in the open, it is also a way to remind the community of resources that are available if the need arises and lets others know that they are not alone.

"We tell people that there are many things that we wish didn't happen here," said Johnson. "But we know that people go hungry. We know that there are people who need some help and this is an opportunity for us to say there are survivors and make others aware of them."

For more information on sexual assault or child abuse, see these websites: RAINN or LACASA.