Anger, frustration, profanity and pain poured out from messages written on T-shirts stretched across a clothesline in front of the Margaret Sloss Women’s Center Thursday afternoon.

But amid all the bitterness and baggage came healing.

One green shirt read “All the tears I’ve cried. All the pain I’ve felt inside. Never again will you hurt me! Never again will you rape me! Never ever, ever again.”

Messages such as this prompted those walking by to stare, while others stopped to read the powerful and sometimes profane messages.

The personal messages were those of sexual assault and incest survivors wanting passers-by to know about how horrible living with such abuse can be.

The Clothesline Project is a national project held every year in April as part of National Sexual Assault Month to create awareness about sexual assault — a crime that is too often silenced, said Julie Wilkinson, sexual assault services coordinator for ACCESS.

ACCESS is a local assault care center that extends shelter and support to victims of sexual assault and domestic violence.

“People of all ages, race, gender and ethnicity are affected by sexual assault,” Wilkinson said.

Tom Gillespie, senior in finance, said having a clothesline of shirts with powerful messages is a good way to get the point across about sexual assault.

“It’s a valuable message that needs to be heard,” he said. “They’re doing it in a tactful, subtle way without protesting or shouting.”

Ken Hageman, junior in psychology, said it was incredible to see the impact and long-term effects of sexual abuse.

Hageman works at Woodward Academy, a juvenile home in Woodward, which has a floor of both male sex offenders and men who have been offended among its residents.

“The victims go through years and years of struggle and guilt before they finally come to the realization that it wasn’t their fault,” he said.

Once they realize this, they begin the healing process and start allowing people to help them through their ordeal, he said.

Becky Smith, court systems coordinator for ACCESS, said victims are able to share their powerful stories on T-shirts to show it is an issue that is OK to talk about it.

“To know the person who made this shirt actually experienced it makes it that much more powerful and real,” she said.

The Clothesline Project is a team effort by surrounding organizations including the Margaret Sloss Women’s Center, Story County Sexual Assault Response Team, YWCA, Youth and Shelter Services and the Community Against Violence, as well as ACCESS.

Heather Priess, coordinator of the Story County Sexual Assault Response Team (SART), said the Clothesline Project is a way for people to become aware of the different assaults in the community.

“It’s also a way for those of us who work in this field to remember why we are doing what we do,” she said.

Priess said SART receives 50 to 60 sexual assault reports each year, of which two-thirds are from ISU students.

Marsha Peterson, graduate student in political science, said the Clothesline Project was very powerful.

“I think it promotes dialogue about issues that we try to hide,” she said.

Despite being a good way of informing the public and making people aware of an issue that has been seen as taboo, Peterson said she worried the display is not representative of the number of victims at Iowa State.

“I think there are a lot of unreported sexual assaults,” she said.

Because of this fact, those on campus and around the country need to focus on creating an environment where victims can feel comfortable reporting abuse, Smith said.

As one T-shirt read, “Everyone has the right to a happy childhood, let’s work together to stop sexual abuse.”