The award winning US-based campaign will be brought to Bermuda to highlight the struggles victims face in trying to escape their abusers.
A 2023 ‘Hidden Horrors’ campaign will be developed for a Bermuda audience and launched through collaboration with a local activist, Tammy Richardson Augustus and a Kansas-based resource group bringing innovative educational messages to the island.
The original ad was jointly developed between Safe in Harm’s Way, Domesticshelters.org and Neon, An IPG Health Company initially depicts a picture-perfect couple but later reveals, not all is as well as it seems.
Caroline Markel, CEO of Safe in Harm’s Way said victims are often sheltered by perpetrators from media access and controlled, making it difficult for them to seek the resources to escape domestic violence.
It’s equally difficult for members of the community to spot domestic violence if the abuser they appear to act normal outside the home.
“They’re just not inclined to think, well, my neighbor could be doing these horrible things, and what we wanted to do is bring our services nationwide so, that no one had to worry. They were brought to them. So, for example, on buses, on cars, at gas stations, on billboards in Times Square in New York City, all across the country of the United States,” Ms. Markel said.
“We wanted our resources front and center so that they [victims] didn’t have to worry about what to Google so that they didn’t have to worry about hiding from an abuser.”
Tammy Richardson Augustus, a lawyer and domestic violence awareness advocate said his campaign also underscores the urgency to identify perpetrators – often master manipulators who go to great lengths to mask their behavior.
Ms. Richardson Augustus has extended a number of international domestic abuse education and awareness campaigns to Bermuda.
She said, “What victims have told me repeatedly is that the two most dangerous places for them is their home and the family court. So for me, this campaign is really powerful because hopefully emotively it will show to so many people that abusers are master manipulators.”
“And it’s important for people in the frontline who are making critical decisions around women’s safety to have embedded education,” she added.
Around 90% of the time children will witness abuse within the home while pets will suffer from violence in equal measure by abusers, according to US statistics.
Ms. Markel said, “A person is more likely to get struck by lightning than to have a survivor lie to them about what’s going on at home. So we need people, frontline responders, especially in small places and countries like Bermuda… If someone comes to you and says I am experiencing violence, you start by believing them and you take the appropriate actions to find the solutions, which is why we took that Hidden Monster campaign.”
The campaign was launched on November 25th to coincide with the United Nations International Elimination of Violence Against Women.
For more information and access to resources, go online to www.hiddenhorrors.bm.
