Science & Technology

A Different Angle on Child Abuse

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The Spanish children’s advocacy group, Aid to Children and Adolescents at Risk (ANAR) foundation, has teamed up with an ad agency, The Grey Group, to distribute an ad aimed at increasing children’s confidence to speak out on being abused.

The ad displays the face of a little boy and employs lenticular printing (a technique normally used for 3D displays) to allow 2 views. One is  a warning for adults (an expected 175 cm height) and the other is a message for children (an expected average height of 135 cm, and under 10 years old).  For children, the little boy’s face looks bruised, complete with a bloodied lip. The message “If somebody hurts you, phone us and we’ll help you” and a phone number for an anonymous and confidential tip line also appear to children. For adults, the warning reads “Sometimes, child abuse is only visible to the child suffering it.” and no phone number accompanies the little boy’s frightened, plain face.

Though ANAR believes the ad would prevent adults—or abusers—from threatening children to not call children’s aid societies, the YouTube video promoting this ad is available online. It is possible that adults who have learned about the ad may steer children away and prevent them from interacting with the ad. According to the US Child Protective Service Agencies, 676 000 children were abuse victims in 2011, while 1545 died from violence.

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