In the fall of 2015, victims of domestic violence joined in solidarity by drawing a black dot on their hand to silently signal and seek the assistance of others to escape a life full of physical or mental abuse by their partner.
The brainchild of an anonymous domestic violence victim, the Black Dot campaign, at the time of inception, immediately attracted over 40,000 “likes” on Facebook. The simple reasoning behind the campaign was the hope that perhaps a family member or stranger would recognize the black dot and offer their assistance giving the victim hope and strength to change the negatives into positives.
The campaign quickly became widely recognized, but many critics cited that the perpetrators of abuse would also recognize the marking and its meaning and the level of violence would trigger new episodes of violence.
For this reason, the campaign opened a once socially taboo dialogue between domestic violence professionals and those in favor of the grass roots movement. Just as the campaign spanned the globe and reached millions of Facebook users, the campaign disappeared from social media.
After the abrupt departure, the founder of the Black Dot campaign posted one last message to all those suffering from domestic violence. She stated that although any concept of trying to help is not without risk, the dialogue and ways for victims to seek assistance without alerting their abuser is worth exploring. She further commented one in four women live with abuse on a daily basis and are often left without a voice and if possible, a tiny black dot may bring them out of the shadows by triggering the compassion of another human being.
If you reside in DuPage, Cook, Kane, Kendall or Will Counties and are a victim of domestic abuse and are desperately seeking a way out, consider contacting the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233. Once safely removed from the abuser it may also be time to contact an experienced Hinsdale domestic violence attorney to discuss your legal recourse. The compassionate legal team of the Law Office of Martoccio & Martoccio have been assisting Illinois residents in all family law matters for over 35 years and we are here to listen. Contact us at 630-920-8855 to schedule a confidential consultation today.
Sources:
http://www.itv.com/news/2015-09-23/domestic-violence-victims-are-drawing-black-dots-on-their-hands-to-silently-ask-for-help/
http://www.wptv.com/news/health/black-dot-campaign-aimed-at-helping-domestic-violence-victims-disappears
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/09/11/black-dot-campaign-offers-domestic-abuse-victims-a-way-to-ask-for-help-silently_n_8117650.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/09/11/black-dot-campaign-offers-domestic-abuse-victims-a-way-to-ask-for-help-silently_n_8117650.html