Domestic Abuse

Domestic abuse is an ongoing issue that has been pushed aside for many years and has now been highlighted in the media to gain attention so that it can be prevented in the future. Domestic violence is an issue that police and government are advertising so that people will report any abuse that is happening to them or someone they know; as most domestic abuse cases are not reported. 1 in 4 women will experience a type of domestic violence in her lifetime and 3 million men have been victims of physical assaults in the United States (Safe Horizon, 2016). It has been founded that the people who commit serious offenses usually have been reported for assaulting their partners beforehand (Tillet, 2015).
The two texts that will be further analysed
are a short advertisement and an article from the New York Times. The advertisement titles ‘let’s stop it at the start’ was released by Australian’s coalition government on the 20th of April 2016, aimed to be confronting and show how abusive behaviour develops (The Sydney Morning Herald, 2016). The article was published on February 3rd 2015, in The Opinion Pages of the New York Times, written by Pamela Shifman and Salamishah Tillet, titled ‘To Stop Violence, Start at Home’. Both texts focus mainly on the abuse against women from their partners, not referencing fully that males are also abused.
The advertisement is aimed at parents, teachers and coaches to limit the disrespectful and hostile behaviour from boys and young men to others especially girls.
The advertisement goes for one minute and is aired on ad breaks when ‘prime time’ television is on. The article was aimed at adults to broadcast the shocking statistical data of the abusive behaviour that happens against women and what that can then lead to. Both texts show that by discouraging the demeaning behaviour from a young age will significantly decrease the cases of domestic abuse, with the advertisement focussing on the ‘typical boy’ behaviour that is encouraged and not reprimanded for. Whereas the article focusses on the abuse at home, with the victims needing to speak up and authority figures who need to take the domestic abuse reports seriously and take action against the abusers (Tillet,
2015).
The purpose of the two texts are slightly different, although they both have the same topic.
The advertisement is aimed to prevent the risk of domestic violence growing, through discouraging that type of behaviour from a young age, and the article focusses on recounting the facts as well as informing the readers of domestic violence and the shocking crimes linked with domestic violence. The advertisement shows the progress from the behaviour of a young boy and how the encouragement given to him, influences his behaviour as it gets more aggressive and demeaning. This timeline shows just how easily domestic violence can seem justified to the abuser and how the victims don’t know how to stand up for themselves as it is the attitude they have become accustomed to. The article informs the audience of the statistics of domestic violence and the relation between violence against a partner and other crimes, such as mass murders and bombings. The article also suggests preventions that could be put in place in try and limit the cases of domestic abuse or the repeat of abuse (Tillet,
2015).
The online article that was used as the text uses a simple, bold heading, and has an image directly underneath allowing your eyes to focus first on the image. The image is of a woman in dull colour being held in a threatening position by a shadowed man. There is an open door further in the background, but as the woman is being held she cannot escape through it. The image is the opening image that you get for the article and intrigues the readers to read on. The first paragraph of the article reveals frightening statistics and gains the reader’s attention through these facts (Tillet, 2015).
The advertisement uses the camera and sound effects to empathize the point it is trying to make. The camera focusses mainly on the interaction between the male and female, showing how the girl is affected by the actions the boy does. The actions such as slamming the door in her face, making her fall, or yelling and being hostile towards the woman, with the woman then crying and saying “You’re okay, he loves you”, which is similar to what her mother told her when she was younger, showing that she believes that his angry behaviour is a sign of his love for her. The music playing in the background is a suspenseful static-like sound which, as the ad goes on, gets slightly stronger and higher pitched until the man is chasing the woman up the stairs and slams the door, effectively stopping the music, which puts a strong empathise on the angry man, who is about to take that anger out on his partner. The closing scene cuts form the woman’s frightened expression back to the man who is now portrayed as the original young boy, symbolising that his behaviour was caused from the ‘typical’ behaviour he was told to have as a young boy.
The texts both have the same view but are designed for different purposes and for slightly different audiences. The article is designed to inform people on the statistics of domestic abuse and some prevention tactics that could stop this growing issue where as the advertisement is aimed solely on the prevention of abusive behaviour. The two texts use many different stylistic features to attract the audience and keep them entrapped. The advertisement is a more effective way of showing a large number of people about the issue, as it is easier to access and only goes for a minute, whereas the article would only be read by those who read the paper or who have searched for that particular topic