ANNUAL SURVIVORS TRIBUTE AND DISPLAY OF ‘BRONX CLOTHESLINE PROJECT’ SHINE SPOTLIGHT ON WIDE VARIETY OF SERVICES FOR CRIME VICTIMS

The Bronx District Attorney’s Crime Victims Assistance Unit, in collaboration with The Bronx Committee for National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, is sponsoring the ninth annual Survivors Tribute and display of The Bronx Clothesline Project to help raise awareness of a myriad of services that are available to victims of crime. The theme for this year’s observance of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week is “Justice Isn’t Served Until Crime Victims Are.”

District Attorney Johnson said: “Some in their zeal to punish offenders inadvertently overlook the needs of victims. The annual observance of National Crime Victims’ Right Week helps to ensure that the scales of justice are more balanced and that we also do everything possible to enable victims to rebuild their lives. Although we in law enforcement have accomplished much in these past 25 years since the first observance of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, much more remains to be done.”

The display is a striking visual presentation of numerous T-shirts hanging side by side on a clothesline. The T-shirts containing messages, poems, photographs and drawings, have been decorated by survivors of domestic violence, rape, child abuse, assault, elder abuse and other crimes of violence. Some T-shirts are memorials to homicide victims, but they all tell the stories of tragic, painful events in the lives of people who have been victimized by crime and their heroic struggle to recover and thrive in spite of their loss. With the Clothesline display serving as a backdrop, some survivors will share verbal testimonials about their victimization and subsequent struggle to prevail.

The Director of the Bronx DA Crime Victims Assistance Unit, Beth Ann Holzhay said: “This event is all about the empowerment of people who have victimized by crime. Whether through the artistic expression of the Clothesline or the verbal testimonials, survivors have an opportunity to “break their silence about what happened and have their voices heard, in order to begin the process of healing."

People attending the Survivors Tribute and Information Fair will be able to obtain a comprehensive booklet of numerous services offered by dozens of Bronx based providers that are available for victims of crime, including those offered directly by the Bronx DA Crime Victims Assistance Unit.

The event’s sponsor, The Bronx Committee for National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, is composed of the Bronx District Attorney’s Office; Safe Horizon; the NYPD Special Victims Unit; St. Barnabas Hospital / Child Advocacy Center; the Office of State Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson; SCAN- Support Children’s Advocacy Network; Kingsbridge Heights Community Center; Aging in America; Institute for Puerto Rican / Hispanic Elderly; Jewish Board for Family & Children Services; Fordham Tremont Community Mental Health; North Central Bronx - Rape Crisis Intervention Program; Bronx Independent Living Services; LIFT - Legal Information for Families Today; East Harlem Neighborhood Based Alliance; NYC Human Resource Administration; Bronx Mental Health Council; NY Institute for Special Education; Center for Court Innovation; Child and Adolescent Witness Support Program.

The display of Bronx Clothesline Project and the Survivors Tribute are part of an Information Fair that will be held on Thursday evening, April 14, 2005, at the Evander Childs High School Campus Auditorium, at 800 East Gunhill Road, Bronx, New York. The two hour program is scheduled to begin at 6:00 P.M.