Clothesline Project: 28 November 2024
If you enter the lecture hall in the teaching building of the Münster medical Faculty of Medicine in Germany on 28.11.2024 and take a quick look down, at first glance you “only” see T-shirts hanging on a clothesline. Nothing unusual you might think, this is a normal sight at home: laundry on a line. Only when you get closer do you notice that there are drawings and words on the T-shirts. And only when you get closer do you realise that the T-shirts tell stories and that there is nothing “normal” about this clothesline.
And then you are right in the middle of this very emotional “Clothesline” exhibition, which gives women and children affected by domestic violence (DV) a voice and thus breaks the silence surrounding the topic of DV. Each T-shirt tells an individual story and attitude of those affected or their supporters. DV always takes place in secret, nobody talks about it and nobody can see it at first glance! In addition to all the pain about what they have experienced, some of the T-shirts show a glimmer of hope that it is possible to free oneself from the cage of violence.
The exhibition is on a journey through Europe. After stops in Spain, Finland and now Germany, one of the next stops will be e.g. in Grenoble in France. New T-shirts are designed at each exhibition location, which then continue on their journey. Here in Münster, too, eight new T-shirts have been added to the clothesline.
The exhibition was visited by many students, hospital staff of the university hospital Münster and external interested parties, and there was a lively exchange on the topic of DV at the clothesline. Everyone agreed that the touching exhibition made it clear that domestic violence is more than just numbers and percentages and that behind every number there are individual people with their own stories.
Copyright for all images: UKM LessmannProf. Dr. Dr. Bettina Pfleiderer, coordinates the EU project VIPROM at the Münster Faculty of Medicine and is a partner in the EU project IMPROVE. Both projects aim to provide better support for those affected by domestic violence and to train first responders from the medical sector to recognise victims more quickly and thus break the silence. Together with Christina Klöckner, Equal Opportunities Officer at the University Hospital, Bettina Pfleiderer has brought this exhibition to the Münster site.
Bettina Pfleiderer stated, “the response to the campaign day has far exceeded our expectations” and the organisation team is delighted that so many visitors have consciously engaged with the messages on the T-shirts and also about the helpful exchange on the topic of domestic violence.
Copyright for all images: UKM LessmannFurther information about the event can be found here.