"The Invisible Victims"

Wednesday, May 6, 2015
By Nhi Vu Nguyen 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are around 4.8 million women being assaulted by an intimate partner each year in the United States (2011). In addition, many women who are abused have children who has witnessed violence. It is estimated that there are 8.2 million children witnessing partner abuse each year and 18.8 million children who will witness abuse at least once in their lifetime. Many people are trying to reach out and inform people about what negative abusive behavior has cause. In example, Ciao-people Media Group has made an indelible video showing little boys saying no to women abuse, and they have successfully convey that. The video responds to the discourse that gender differences between boys and girls determine how they would react to domestic violence.

"In the kids' world, women don't get hit." - Alessandro, 6 years old

The producers of Ciaopeople Media left us with a powerful quote persuading viewers to live by this rule. The video address not only the unethical act of women abuse, but also the harm of how abuse/violence can effect an innocent child. Notice the usage of music in the beginning of the video: it is joyful, happy and exciting, which emphasized the characteristics of children. They all want to grow up as an individual who they can be proud of. As seen in the video, these children are being raised in a warm and loving family due to their reactions on the request of physical abuse. 

Children are to be raised in a neutral community, where they can't be expose to abuse. Many researchers like Faye Blair and Joy Osofsky have studied how abuse can have many negative impact on the children who are developing. Based on Blair's study: "Child Witness to Domestic Abuse: Baseline Data Analysis for a Seven-Year Prospective Study", children who are witnessed to abuse suffered both internalizing (i.e. anxiety and depression), and externalizing (i.e. aggression and attention disorder) behavior. Moreover, psychologists have proven that boys and girls learn pattern of gender roles by perceiving their caregivers' actions (Blair, 28). Joy Osofsky on the other hand argue the future impact of children who are expose to domestic abuse. He claimed that children who have witnessed violence grow up to have symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, which includes repeated re-experiencing of the devastating events, avoidance, numbing of responsiveness, etc. (Osofsky, 3-4)

The message that the video want to reach out to the audience is that mothers are the main source of care and protection for the children. And if they are victims of abuse, it is harder for them to fulfill their obligations as mothers. Seeing that children imitate what their parents do, they would see abuse as a solution to any conflicts. Children are a blank sheet of paper. They should be encourage to write the good ethics and acknowledge what is wrong in society. Women abuse is inhumane, as well as mentally abusing children.