Community Corner

T-Shirt Project Gives Domestic Violence Victims a Voice

The Community Health Center event will showcase tees that serve as therapy for battered women who have been sheltered at Middletown's New Horizons over the last few years.

Community Health Center and its domestic violence service, New Horizons, are hosting an event to raise awareness about domestic violence in Middletown.  

Thursday's event will consist of a few women speaking about their own experiences with domestic violence followed by a presentation of the Clothesline project. The Clothesline project involves a display of dozens of t-shirts, which have been individually decorated with thoughts, emotions and artwork by victimized women who have been sheltered at New Horizons over the last few years. 

The event will include light refreshments and a short presentation on the success of New Horizon’s Domestic Violence Initiative by the president, Gerry Bennett.

Find out what's happening in Middletownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

It takes place Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Community Health Center, 675 Main Street, Middletown.    

According to the National Coalition against Domestic Violence, one in every four women in the United States will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. On an annual basis, New Horizons provides services and shelter to over 1,000 women and children. 

Find out what's happening in Middletownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The shelter itself is one element of a comprehensive approach to intimate partner violence that also includes community education, support groups, individual counseling, and consultation to CHC’s clinical provider teams. The Clothesline project started on Cape Cod, Mass., in 1990 to address the issue of violence against women. 

It is a therapeutic vehicle for battered women affected to express their emotions by decorating a t-shirt; this display seeks to raise community awareness of how many of our neighbors are affected by domestic violence.

Intimate partner violence — characterized as physical, emotional/verbal or sexual abuse — affects one in four women in the United States, according to Sarah Chagnon, child advocate for Middletown's Community Health Center New Horizons Domestic Violence Services.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here