On 1st February 2007 Women’s Aid, the national domestic violence charity launches a national domestic violence awareness campaign to ask everyone to ‘act until women and children are safe’– that is - admit domestic abuse is a problem, call it by its name and talk to someone about it. Created by Grey London and photographed by Rankin, the campaign uses head and shoulder portraits of famous female faces, made up to show the physical effects of domestic violence.
The basic proposition of the brief was to get people talking about domestic violence. To drag the taboo subject of domestic abuse out into the public view, to mainstream the issue and get people talking about it so that we can then work together to support those who are in abusive relationships.
Creatively, this problem was tackled by tapping into gossip culture. The amount of column inches and time spent talking about celebrities is phenomenal and if we could own even a small piece of this it would help to raise awareness of domestic violence and also Women’s Aid. In this gossip driven world if we thought a celebrity was suffering from a form of domestic abuse EVERYONE would be talking about it. Yet it happens everyday to thousands of women, two women are killed every week by a current or former partner, and it is still a relatively taboo subject.
Celebrities appearing so far include: Anna Friel, Jemma Kidd, Fiona Bruce, Honor Blackman, Anne-Marie Duff, Kate Thornton, Miquita Oliver, Fay Ripley and Fern Britton. This campaign has great longevity and uses celebrities from a wide range of ages, backgrounds and ethnicity to highlight the fact that as one in four women will experience domestic abuse at some point in their lives, it could happen to anyone, regardless of background, education, wealth, race, age or religion.
Anne-Marie Duff, who was photographed for the ‘act’ campaign said: “I was proud to take part in such a groundbreaking campaign. Domestic violence affects 1 in 4 women at some point in their lifetime, yet it is still often ignored and women are suffering in silence. I was made up to show how I would look my eye was bruised, but domestic abuse is not only about physical abuse – many women are psychologically abused by their partners, yet no one can see the emotional scars. All forms of domestic abuse ruin the lives of hundreds of thousands of women and children every year, and we can all do something to help.”
Nicola Harwin, Chief Executive of Women’s Aid, said: “We want this powerful campaign to raise awareness of domestic violence, to get people talking about it, to make those experiencing it to realise that they’re not alone, and to get everyone to do something to help.
Women and their children who are victims of abuse often feel to scared or ashamed to tell anyone, or feel that no-one can help. Friends and family may not want to admit it’s a problem or feel embarrassed to talk about it. Doctors, nurses, health visitors see it all the time but often don’t ask the vital questions. But whether we are friends, family, neighbours, work colleagues, or helping agencies, we can all do something to help stop domestic abuse.
The women photographed for this campaign have all acted to help end abuse, and we hope these shocking images of famous faces will make people stop and think about this serious problem, which can wreck lives and causes physical and psychological harm in thousands of families. It is only by acting together that we can support those who are in abusive relationships and send out the message that domestic abuse will not be tolerated in our society.”
The ‘act’ campaign will be officially launched on February 1st at a reception at 11 Downing Street by kind permission of the Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Mrs Sarah Brown. To find out how you can help Women’s Aid to end domestic abuse, go to www.womensaid.org.uk.