An anti-domestic violence public service announcement starring Keira Knightley has been banned from British television after censors branded its content too violent.
Britain has obviously taken a “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” approach to this. Not showing domestic violence for the evil that it is makes it appear to not be so bad save for an occasional news report – and that news only gets reported if there is a homicide. Could this be the reason why it looks like there’s no end in sight to combating domestic violence? Why the laws are so far behind in this?
What those who still have their heads in the sand need to realize is that what’s depicted in this video:
Was and still is someone’s reality on a daily basis;
That the after effects of having been subjected to this type of violence is something that survivors live with every day;
That there are men and women who continue to lose their lives to this type of violence.
Domestic violence deserves more attention than just 30 days out of a year to raise awareness. Men, women and children die every day of the year due to it!
There is crime and violence everywhere! To put domestic violence in its proper perspective as a very serious social disease means showing it the way it really is – violent. Censoring it is no better than relegating it to something that happens behind closed doors and is pushing against those who want to bring this into the light for everyone to see.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is my .02
Here is the video -
A word of caution – This may be very disturbing to anyone who has been involved in an abusive relationship.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTC6_IbEveA
P.S. On My Life My Soul Talk Radio, as part of the new show format, I will be broadcasting “Domestic Violence in the News” courtesy of Cathy Church of the Intimate and Domestic Violence Homicide blog.
