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Movie trailer to educate public on domestic abuse
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Wednesday, November 14, 2001
With more than 300,000 incidents of domestic abuse reported per year in Wisconsin, two Wisconsin women’s health organizations produced a movie-trailer public-service announcement to show moviegoers that domestic abuse can be both physical and psychological. The trailer will run in Marcus movie theaters across the state, beginning this month.
The Wisconsin Women’s Health Foundation and the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence created this campaign to educate the public about domestic abuse and how victims can get help.
Marcus Theaters donated screen time to run the movie trailer for three months on its 300 screens throughout Wisconsin. Key funding also came from the Wisconsin Department of Justice and Verizon Communications. An estimated two million people will see the trailer in such cities as Madison, Green Bay, Milwaukee and Appleton.
“The PSA targets victims, friends and family members of those who may be abused,” said Mary Lauby, executive director of the WCADV. “The aim is to educate the general community.”
The movie trailer focuses not only on physical abuse but also verbal and psychological abuse.
“It addresses the emotional and psychological abuse that many women experience,” Lauby said. “It is still fairly common for people to think of domestic violence as physical violence. But the truth is, there are many more battered women who have never been hit.”
Domestic abuse includes, among many other things, hitting, forced sexual activity, threats, intimidation, domination of family finances and vandalism of personal assets. Domestic abuse continues to be a problem throughout the country, Lauby said, with about 300,000 incidents of domestic violence reported in Wisconsin each year and an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 that go unreported. A Harvard study revealed one in five teenage girls experience physical or sexual abuse by a partner. Domestic abuse often leads to suicide attempts, eating disorders and sometimes death. The main message of the public education campaign is to encourage people to get help. “The final message is to tell someone,” Lauby said. “That’s the first step. Many victims simply don’t tell anyone.” In addition to the movie trailer, the women’s health organizations also created posters that will be placed in the women’s bathrooms of Marcus movie theaters. The poster will not only educate women about domestic abuse, but also give them the name and phone number of their local domestic violence agency. There are also plans to reduce the movie trailer to a 30-second television PSA later this year. “We hope this all makes people think about domestic violence and possibly tell someone if they are in trouble,” said Julie Whitehorse, program director for WWHF. “It will connect people to their local domestic violence agency. People will be able to know where to go and who to call.” Both the WWHF and the WCADV hope to make more movie trailers and PSAs about other health issues in the future.
