April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. With that comes the onslaught of new ad campaigns trying to ignite the public into action. These ads aren’t just featured here in the United States, but all over the world with the hope of catching people’s attention and helping to prevent child abuse. While the intent of the advertisements is commendable, the overly graphic nature goes too far and should be reconsidered.
Similar to the graphic anti-drug ads run back in the 80s and 90s, today’s anti-abuse ads are showing the truly horrific side of abuse. The thought is that the graphic nature of these advertisements will wake people up to the truth about child abuse and shock them into action. Brazil, Spain and Thailand are just some of the countries featuring these types of advertisements.
In an attempt to combat child sexual abuse, The Children and Adolescents Reference Center in Brazil published glow-in-the dark print ads in magazines throughout the country. These featured ads would not give you much to think about when seen during the day, but as the ads suggest, “Turn off the lights and help [name] overcome [their] fear of the dark”.
Similar to the graphic anti-drug ads run back in the 80s and 90s, today’s anti-abuse ads are showing the truly horrific side of abuse. The thought is that the graphic nature of these advertisements will wake people up to the truth about child abuse and shock them into action. Brazil, Spain and Thailand are just some of the countries featuring these types of advertisements.
In an attempt to combat child sexual abuse, The Children and Adolescents Reference Center in Brazil published glow-in-the dark print ads in magazines throughout the country. These featured ads would not give you much to think about when seen during the day, but as the ads suggest, “Turn off the lights and help [name] overcome [their] fear of the dark”.
Suddenly, the little boy playing with his truck is seen with his head between the legs of a man and the little girl standing in her room is now seen with a man trying to lift her skirt. These images are saying-just because you can’t see a child being abused, doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. In fact, statistics show that more than 70% of child abuse cases happen in the child’s home and involve a parent, guardian, or other family member. While that reasoning can be a very effective motivator, the overly graphic nature of these ads may deter more people than they motivate.
Casa do Menor in Spain has taken a similar stance in their effort to fight child sexual abuse. Their advertisement pictured below is meant to show how abuse can “hang on” to a child throughout their lifetime. The “dress of hands” looks to be groping the little girl as they are pulling her down-likely representing how abuse can be a heavy burden for a child to bear.
Casa do Menor in Spain has taken a similar stance in their effort to fight child sexual abuse. Their advertisement pictured below is meant to show how abuse can “hang on” to a child throughout their lifetime. The “dress of hands” looks to be groping the little girl as they are pulling her down-likely representing how abuse can be a heavy burden for a child to bear.
The irony here is that in order to create this image, they had to use a little naked girl to achieve their desired effect. Featuring children in advertisements like this could be construed as its own form of abuse.
There are concerns these ads take their messages too far. A study was done in 2014 to determine the effectiveness of graphic child abuse advertisements on adults. The study determined that more adults are likely "to respond better to anti-child-abuse ads that avoid fear appeals." (Hyman "Anti-child-abuse ads: Believability and willingness-to-act" 2014). So do these advertisements really help prevent child abuse, or do they invoke more inappropriate thoughts in offenders? Do these advertisements showing children in disgusting positions with adults , or naked girls covered in hands need to be displayed to prove that there is a child abuse problem world-wide? Likely not . There are far more effective ways child abuse can be fought.
One company that has taken a more effective approach to the fight on child abuse is Save the Children, located in Mexico. While their ad campaign is still somewhat violent in nature, it is less graphic. Statistics show that 70% of people who are abused as children will grow into adults, who will in turn abuse children. These three images are meant to represent how physical, sexual and emotional abuse can be “cycled” from childhood into adulthood; how the abused becomes the abuser to children of their own.
There are concerns these ads take their messages too far. A study was done in 2014 to determine the effectiveness of graphic child abuse advertisements on adults. The study determined that more adults are likely "to respond better to anti-child-abuse ads that avoid fear appeals." (Hyman "Anti-child-abuse ads: Believability and willingness-to-act" 2014). So do these advertisements really help prevent child abuse, or do they invoke more inappropriate thoughts in offenders? Do these advertisements showing children in disgusting positions with adults , or naked girls covered in hands need to be displayed to prove that there is a child abuse problem world-wide? Likely not . There are far more effective ways child abuse can be fought.
One company that has taken a more effective approach to the fight on child abuse is Save the Children, located in Mexico. While their ad campaign is still somewhat violent in nature, it is less graphic. Statistics show that 70% of people who are abused as children will grow into adults, who will in turn abuse children. These three images are meant to represent how physical, sexual and emotional abuse can be “cycled” from childhood into adulthood; how the abused becomes the abuser to children of their own.
Another company that has taken a less graphic approach to their advertisements is Aid to Children and Adolescents at Risk Foundation in Spain. They have come up with a way to incorporate a “secret” message into one of their ads. It was created using a special top layer that shows two different images. Since most abusers are more often than not an adult, anyone over four and a half feet tall would see one picture, and anyone shorter would see another. (Liszewski 2013). This advertisement doesn’t necessarily focus on sexual abuse, but it can be effective for all abused children. This ad was created with the hope that a child who is being abused would see the message and know they have “a safe way to reach out for help.” (Liszewski 2013) While this type of advertisement could be very beneficial, it isn’t without its downsides. The company created this ad thinking that a child will actually take advantage of the information offered. What this corporation fails to acknowledge is that most children are too terrified of the repercussions they might face if they go against their abuser.
Graphic advertisements may be able to grasp the attention of people passing by, but that attention may be more harmful than helpful. Society may be more offended by the advertisements rather than moved by them. Shock and awe can be a great motivator in some aspects, but if the people creating these ads truly want to help fight child abuse, they may want to consider alternative options. If people are so distraught by what they are seeing that they are turning away from the billboards, turning the pages in the magazines, turning off the public service announcements-then how does that really help the children?
Graphic advertisements may be able to grasp the attention of people passing by, but that attention may be more harmful than helpful. Society may be more offended by the advertisements rather than moved by them. Shock and awe can be a great motivator in some aspects, but if the people creating these ads truly want to help fight child abuse, they may want to consider alternative options. If people are so distraught by what they are seeing that they are turning away from the billboards, turning the pages in the magazines, turning off the public service announcements-then how does that really help the children?