WIND Ladies took in the Clothesline Project...we who are trying to create a movement...and in order to do that we need movement.
It doesn't mean helping the broken....it means stopping the ones who break others by abusing them. What we call "Prevention" is to educate the potential victims in how to protect themselves. Instead we need to begin treating the abusers AS abusers and the ones doing the hurt and stop calling them "family" or "Friend".
Most of us keep looking out into the community for help when it begins in each of your relationships. Each time you overlook an act of violence you are contributing to the problem. It is time we empower or over power the abusers by calling them out. Speak their names....refuse to call them father/brother/uncle and friend!
You teach people how to treat you....are you teaching Violence and Abuse is okay?
Silence and inaction with abuse WILL NOT bring an end to violence, but is actually participating with indifference.
I am not sure we can end violence with prayer and kindness, for if it was helpful, the abusers would be 'healed'. They are not stopped by words and awareness, they are only stopped when you remove yourself and others from their grasps.....and to speak their name.
As I walked along the clothesline, I was struck with the ineffectiveness this project truly has....The words were brilliant, the messages clear...but they don't seem to make people move. I understand the intentions, but wonder about the actual response....will they make people move away from abusers in their worlds???
I guess it all has to start somewhere....it begins with a whisper and eventually works itself to a roar!
