Week Without Violence (16-22 October 2023)
The Week Without Violence (WWV) is an annual campaign during the third week of October to end violence against women.
Since 1999, the northern metropolitan region (NMR) has marked the WWV, primarily through the Clothesline Project which focuses on raising awareness about family violence.
Get involved in the WWV campaign 2023.
This year’s theme is ‘Listen, Believe, Connect: Connect with organisations and people who can help.’
The Clothesline Project
Every year hundreds of people across the NMR mark the WWV by painting T-shirts. The Clothesline Project concept is simple: each participant expresses their feelings about family violence, on a T-shirt. The T-shirt then hangs on a virtual or real clothesline displayed by organisations or in public spaces throughout the region.
History of the Clothesline Project
In 1990 a coalition of women’s groups in Massachusetts, USA, developed a program to break the silence and bear witness to the prevalence of violence against women.
The Clothesline Project was designed to:
- act as an educational tool for those who come to view the clothesline;
- act as a healing tool for anyone who made a T-shirt; and
- allow those who are still suffering in silence to understand that they are not alone.
Draw your message on a T-shirt and post a photo of it on social media.
History of the Week Without Violence
The Week Without Violence is an initiative created by YWCA USA in 1995. Over the past two decades, organisations around the world have hosted community events to end violence against women.
Activities focus on raising awareness, promoting attitude change and enabling individuals and organisations to begin positive actions towards ending violence in their communities.
Resources to support your campaign activity
Download a paper T-shirt template.
Get inspired about what to draw on a T-shirt.
Education:
- Power and Control Wheel
- Equality Wheel
- Love Control DVD and Love Control Resource Kit
- Links to family violence statistics
Response and referral:
- NIFVS multi-language posters
- Tip Sheets for your activity: Responding to Disclosures from Victim Survivors and Responding to Myths
- Safe and Equal publications – Safe and Equal have a range of resources regarding family violence
- NIFVS COVID-19 Information and Resources
Find further information about approaches in Group Settings and Display Settings.
Campaign information
Download the WWV poster and social media tiles.
Campaign messages are available in English, Arabic, Hindi, Punjabi,
Sinhalese, Urdu and Vietnamese.
Community Members
Draw your message on a
T-shirt.
Post a photo on social media.
Connect with organisations that can help.
Professionals and Volunteers
Organise an activity in your organisation or community.
Find further information about approaches in Group Settings and Display Settings.
Encourage service users to join the campaign.
20th Anniversary WWV Film
View the 20th Anniversary Week Without Violence film, created in 2019 to celebrate the history in the region.
