By Kyra Gillespie
Community sporting groups are encouraged to get involved in The Clothesline Project in the lead up to White Ribbon Day 2017.
Returning again this year, The Clothesline Project is a visual display of T-shirts decorated with messages against family violence to encourage respectful relationships, which are then displayed hanging on a clothesline within the community.
The purpose of project is to increase awareness and educate the community of the incidence of family violence, empower people to speak out against family violence, honour the strength of survivors of family violence, pay tribute to those lost to family violence and to encourage respectful relationships.
Run by Communities for Children Cardinia through Anglicare Victoria, this year’s project will focus on the 2017 theme ‘Safe Kids – Strong Communities’.
“By hanging these T-shirts up in public places the community can bring awareness to the issue of family violence,” Cindy-Lee Harper from Anglicare Victoria said.
“This year we are focusing on kids because, in almost all incidences of family violence, the kids are either present or directly impacted by it.
“Last year we worked very closely with local schools and it was great to see the sort of messages the kids wrote on their T-shirts.
‘Love Shouldn’t Hurt’ and ‘Saying No to Fear’ were among many of the messages that they came up with for their shirts.
“We want them to know that life can be different,” she said.
Communities for Children Cardinia is hoping to extend the initiative beyond schools and early learning to local sporting clubs.
“We really want to engage local sporting clubs this year,” she said.
“A lot of the clubs support White Ribbon Day so we think this will be good to get the conversation rolling before the day.”
Ms Harper said that although a lot of people are aware of family violence, there were still members in the community who don’t think there was a problem.
“Cardinia has twice as many reported incidences of family violence than the average in Victoria, and yet there are still people out there who don’t think it’s a major issue.”
It has the second highest rate of reported family violence incidents in the southern metropolitan region, with one report every 75 minutes.
“There are unacceptably high rates,” she said.
Members of the community are encouraged to run their own Clothesline Project or organise for a session to be run in their own workplaces, schools, sporting groups or clubs, where groups can learn and decorate their own T-shirts that can be worn during The Walk Against Family Violence on Saturday 25 November.
To receive a Clothesline Project Kit, organise a session or require any further information, phone 1300 984 011 or email cfccardinia@anglicarevic.org.au.
Those affected by or aware of sexual assault, family or domestic violence should call 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au.
In an emergency, call triple zero.
