“Empty Shirts..” Project Reveals Untold Stories of Grief, Violence, and Survival

In a justice system designed by and for men, the lived experiences of women—and particularly young people navigating violence, poverty, and systemic neglect—are too often erased. But Dr. Jade Levell, criminologist and senior lecturer in social justice at the University of Bristol, is working to change that.

Her powerful participatory project, Empty Shirts, Lost Childhood, brought together young people in Bristol to tell their stories using an unexpected medium: school shirts. Traditionally used in the UK to commemorate the end of school with doodles and jokes, these shirts became canvases of grief, resilience, and resistance. Instead of light-hearted messages, they bore the names of friends lost to knife crime, words of pain, and cries for justice. One shirt simply read: “She’s not angry. She’s in pain.”

The project—developed in partnership with Bristol City Council’s Serious Violence Prevention Board—tapped into the global Clothesline Project but reimagined it for youth in the UK. The shirts were displayed in a powerful exhibition, offering a rare public glimpse into the silent traumas young people carry.

Dr. Levell’s work reveals the critical truth that violence doesn’t exist in silos. Youth violence, domestic abuse, incarceration, and systemic racism are all interconnected. “If we only focus on what’s most visible,” she explains, “we miss the private traumas happening every day in homes, schools, and relationships.”

The exhibition highlighted these overlapping harms—gender-based violence, grief from incarceration, and the ripple effects of systemic failure. For many young people, especially girls, serious violence wasn’t just about street crime—it was about coercive control, sexual assault, bullying, and being unheard.

Dr. Levell argues for a trauma-informed, holistic model of justice—one that recognizes early warning signs and addresses the full ecology of a young person’s life. “We are too focused on headline events. But the earlier signs of harm are ignored because they don’t make noise.”

More than just an art project, Empty Shirts, Lost Childhood stands as a powerful call to action—a challenge aimed squarely at policymakers, educators, community leaders, and society as a whole. It demands that we stop turning a blind eye, waiting until crises become unbearable before offering attention or care. Instead, it urges us to be proactive, compassionate, and truly attentive to the voices of young people who have experienced trauma, neglect, or loss.

This project invites us to listen deeply—not just to hear, but to understand the realities and emotions behind their stories. These narratives are not merely accounts of hardship or tragedy; they are vital roadmaps that reveal where the system has failed and where justice must be sought. When we engage with these stories earnestly, they offer profound insights into the changes needed to create safer, more supportive environments for vulnerable children and youth.

Empty Shirts, Lost Childhood reminds us that the cost of ignoring these young lives is far too high. Childhood is not just a stage of life—it is a foundation for the future. When it is stolen or disrupted, the consequences ripple across an individual’s entire lifetime. Therefore, we have a moral responsibility to respond with more than sympathy. We must respond with hope—hope that recovery is possible, and that healing can begin. We must build and support systems that not only protect children but actively nurture their growth, dignity, and well-being.

Ultimately, this project calls on all of us to recognize that when childhood has been taken away, we owe it to those children to give back something far more meaningful: the opportunity to reclaim their futures. That means investing in education, mental health services, social support networks, and policies designed to prevent harm before it happens. It means creating communities where every young person feels seen, heard, and valued.

Empty Shirts, Lost Childhood is more than an exhibition or a collection of stories—it is a movement toward justice, equity, and compassion. It challenges us to act, to build systems worthy of every child’s right to a safe, joyful, and hopeful childhood. If we choose to listen and follow this map, we can transform loss into healing and despair into resilience.

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