A Good Example, for a Change

[Trigger warning for images and descriptions of domestic violence.]

We have, unfortunately, all too many opportunities to discuss serious message fail in anti-violence advocacy, anti-exploitation messaging, PSAs, adverts masquerading as PSAs, awareness-raising campaigns, women's health marketing, women's health fundraising, and other pieces of activism.

So it's a breath of relief to have an opportunity to post something that works. (Or, at least works in my opinion. YMMV.)

Below the fold is an advert/PSA for the National Domestic Violence Hotline, created by Y&R Chicago. It is difficult to watch, but it also extremely powerful and effective. And it is one of the very few spots I've seen where there is not a trace of victim-blaming, nor has any room been left for the imagery to be construed as "sexy." And just when one might think it's yet another anti-violence campaign that fails to acknowledge the abuser, the final moments are a pointed and breathtaking reminder that domestic violence does not just happen.

Credit to the agency who designed it; credit to the actress who conveys exactly the right things with her expressive face.

Please note that this may be triggering, which is one problem with this advert*, especially because it evokes so very successfully what being in a cycle of abuse feels like—the routine, the terror. It's tough to publicly reach out to people in abusive relationships without potentially triggering people who have survived them, but I have endless good will for those trying to navigate that difficult balance when the ad isn't gratuitously provocative.

A young, thin, blond, white woman, filmed first in close-up until the camera slowly pulls back to frame her from the shoulders up, stands looking into the camera as if into a mirror. A cover of "Mercy Street," sung by a female artist, plays. The woman has been crying, and mascara is running down her face. There is a cut on her right cheek. She dabs at the cut on her cheek and the running mascara, which disappears—just as a cut above her right eyebrow and a bruise on her left temple appear. She presses against the bruise, which disappears—just as a wound on her neck appears. She gingerly touches the wound on her neck, then drops her hand as her left eye blackens and a cut appears on the bridge of her nose, which cracks and bruises. As she breathes deeply, trying not to cry, a bruise appears on her right temple. Her nose begins to bleed. She wipes at the blood, but none of the injuries are going away anymore. She pulls her hand away to reveal a fat lip. Next to her, text appears: "It rarely stops." Suddenly, she jumps, frightened, and looks frantically to one side as if someone's coming into the room. The screen goes black.

The following text then appears onscreen: "The National Domestic Violence Hotline. 1.800.799.SAFE. (7233) / 1.800.787.3224 (TTY)."

Get help from the National Domestic Violence Hotline here.

Donate to the National Domestic Violence Hotline here.

[H/T to Copyranter.]

--------------------

* Another problem being that a young, thin, traditionally pretty, white woman is the "face of domestic violence" once again. Which is not to say, of course, that women meeting that precise description are not at risk for domestic violence; it's just that, if you look at anti-DV campaigns, you'd think they're the only ones who are. I'll note, however, that not actually showing the face of her abuser leaves open the possibility that her partner is a woman, which makes this ad inclusive of the extremely under-acknowledged issue of same-sex partner violence.