Just when we think the world is taking a step forward, it goes ahead and takes two steps back. Take
global warming, for instance: we spend years setting up regulations for climate change, only for them to get removed in one fell swoop. And marriage equality, too; while so many countries are advocating for marriage rights for all genders, others are literally torturing their LGBTQ community.
And it's a similar matter with domestic violence.
To put the problem in perspective: 6,488 soldiers were killed in Afghanistan and Iraq between 2001 and 2012. During that same period, the number of women in America who were murdered by current or ex male partners was 11,766. And it's not just women who are affected. While 85 per cent of domestic violence sufferers are female, the other 15 per cent are male - meaning its an issue that afflicts all walks of life.
Even though people have tried to educate others about the issue, many places are seeing reductions in the number of available refuge shelters, or cutbacks on schemes that help to protect victims of
domestic violence. Ultimately, it seems that people just don't
get the brutal reality of the situation.
So the makers of this video decided to show what it looks like.
In the short clip, which was actually a Croatian public service announcement, photographs of a young woman appear to show the passing of time. The video is titled, "
Jedna fotografija dnevno u najgoroj godini života", which translates to, "One photo a day in the worst year of my life."
It acts as a sort of parody of other timelapse videos, in which people show themselves getting older or thinner or happier etc. In this video, however, the woman just becomes more and more broken - both literally and figuratively.
She starts as a cheery-looking woman with bright eyes and a pretty smile. But, very quickly, blemishes begin to appear. At first, they are subtle:
But they soon become more prominent:
Not only can you see the bruises getting bigger, you can also see her expression becoming more and more desperate.
In what seems like no time at all, the injuries worsen dramatically, and are actually really hard to look at. Even though its only makeup in this scenario, the woman's face is representative of the very real attacks that people face in their own homes - and it's terrifying to think about.
This next image is particularly brutal:
With cuts and bruises across her jaw, eye and forehead, the woman is almost unrecognizable from the smiling figure we saw at the beginning. Perhaps most striking, however, is her expression. She doesn't seem upset anymore - she just seems sort of empty, almost as if she's given up.
Before the final image, we see this:
Again, it's only special effects makeup, but it's still chilling.
At the end of the video, we see the woman holding up a sign. It reads: “Help me, I do not know if I can wait for tomorrow.”
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Though this video might have been originally intended for a Croatian audience, its message is universal. People need to start taking
domestic violence more seriously - along with all the other issues we keep brushing aside - because they won't get better without intervention.
