Awareness Displays

As part of our mission to raise awareness around domestic and sexual violence, NDDSVC sponsors two awareness displays. Both exhibits can be rented to display at organizations and events statewide. If you are interested in renting a display, contact us.

The Clothesline Project is a display that educates, documents, and raises awareness around the extent of the problem of violence against women. It bears witness to violence against women and aids in the healing process for survivors and people who have lost a loved one to violence. Each shirt is made by a survivor of violence or by someone who has lost a loved one to violence.

The clothesline is representative of the days when doing laundry was considered women’s work and neighborhood women exchanged stories over backyard fences when hanging their clothes out to dry. Each clothesline is hung with color-coded shirts decorated to represent a particular woman’s or child’s experience with violence.

The meaning behind the colors:

• White for women who have died because of violence
• Yellow or beige for women who have been battered or assaulted
• Pink or orange for women who have been raped or sexually assaulted
• Blue or green for women survivors of incest or child sexual abuse
• Purple or lavender for women who have been attacked because of their sexual orientation
• Red for children who have witnessed or been the target of violence in their homes

The original Clothesline Project began with 31 shirts hung in Hyannis, Massachusetts in October of 1990. Since then, over 250 projects have begun in communities around the globe, with over 30,000 shirts on display.

The concept was simple. Let each woman tell her own story, in her own unique way, and hang it all out for all to see. It was and is a way of airing society’s dirty laundry.

—Carol A. Chichetto, former National Clothesline Coordinator

North Dakota had its first Clothesline Project display in 1995 at the Great Hall of the Capitol Building during the legislative session. There were 114 shirts on display.

Contact us if you are interested in contributing a shirt.

The Silent Witness Exhibit is dedicated to further reducing violence against women and children. The display is made up of red silhouettes that honor women and children who were murdered in acts of domestic violence. Witnesses are red because it is the color of life’s blood and the symbol of humanity’s unity beyond race, creed, or culture. Each silhouette is paired with information on a woman or child who was killed in a domestic violence incident in North Dakota. The display reminds us to remember the names and stories of those lost to violence. 

The Silent Witness Exhibit also promotes healing and peace in committed relationships by connecting victims with local resources for ending violence, raising community awareness of domestic violence, and encouraging community action to end societal violence.

The Silent Witness Initiative began in 1990 to educate and promote an end to domestic violence through community based exhibits. It started with a small group of volunteers in one state and grew into an international presence, with projects now in all 50 states and 23 different countries.

There are 25 silhouettes available for rent in North Dakota.