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Brilio.net/en - You may have seen people take weird picture showing their palm to the camera. Or you may have encountered them in person, they stay silent with curious stare while showing you their palm. The odd thing is there is an unusual black dot marked on their palm. Well the next time you see this, call police immediately. The black dot means this person is in trouble.
The Black Dot Campaign was started on Facebook to make a universal signal to recognize the victims of domestic abuse. The black dot on hand is the signal that they are in danger and in need for help but unable to ask for one due to the situation around them, constant surveillance, or other fear.
The black dot on the hand lets professionals know youre a really vulnerable domestic violence survivor, and that you need help but cant ask because your abuser is watching your every move. In just 24 hours, the campaign has reached over 6,000 people worldwide, and has already helped 6 women. Please spread the campaign, and post a picture of your hand with the black dot, to show your support to all survivors of domestic violence, stated the organizer of the Black Dot Campaign.
I will tweet this daily for my wife's 20 yrs of suffering #blackdotcampaign pic.twitter.com/qu1gQtXS3Q
John Morrison (@omprocess) October 9, 2015
One of the survivor or domestic violence said, Im heavily pregnant and the babys father is very abusive. With words, his hands. Ive been petrified for so long and even more with the baby coming soon. I was at the hospital yesterday, he was with me, he never leaves my side anymore. I had to have an examination so the consultant asked me to lie on the bed and drew the curtain. I learnt over and took the pen out of his pocket, pulled his hand over to me and wrote HELP ME. I didnt have to say a word. This campaign gave me the strength and the idea how to ask for help. I am now safe somewhere else thanks to that consultant and the black dot campaign. Thank you, 1 week to go until my due date and I am finally safe.
But another concern appeared, that if the abuser notices the black dot, it would even more harmful for the victim, being already under serious threat. So there are some things
However, Project Sanctuary, a domestic violence prevention organization, is against the campaign. On its official Twitter account, the organization announced:
Image: Project Sanctuary/Twitter
The Black Dot Campaign is a very well-meaning idea, but a bad idea nonetheless, stated Dina Polkinghorne, the executive director of Project Sanctuary. The campaign is getting a lot of attention, so abusers may also be aware of it. They might question why their partner would have the dot on their hand. A well-meaning family member could also see the dot, and inadvertently compound the violence.
She continued, When would it be appropriate to use it? At the grocery store? At the doctors office? Someone who was being completely controlled would be told by the abuser that they want to be in the exam room, so the victim would not be able to tell their doctor that they were in a domestic violence situation.
The factor [for the campaigns seeming disintegration] was that the abuser, highly controlling, would see the black dot and that that would facilitate more violence or more abuse, agreed Dr. Michael Finegan from Peninsula Mental Health Services.
The Black Dot Campaign founder, who is a British domestic abuse survivor who wishes to remain anonymous, said to the BBC that she never meant for the campaign to go viral, or for women to post selfies with black dots on their hands.
When things go viral and worldwide, you kind of lose control. A lot of survivors are putting their dots on their hand, but thats not what the original idea was, she said. I imagined it as a tool to start face-to-face conversations between friends or with professionals. I was basing it on my experiences and I was thinking, how could I prompt people to talk about domestic violence?
She also suggested the domestic violence victims not to draw the dot said if it seemed unsafe. Just because youre a victim doesnt mean youre stupid you know yourself what is safe and what is not safe.
However, it is good to have a universal symbol or mark to note a domestic abuse in victims and best to spread to everyone so they could get the help they could not ask for. Without making it viral, this sign might come up handy in emergencies and this could help the victims. So lets acknowledge people about it, but posting a black-dot-palm selfie is not necessary.
Source:Jezebel.com
(brl/tis)
