People who suffer from any sort of abuse are almost always hard to reach. This is especially true

in the cases of domestic violence, where the aggressor is an important figure in the life of the molested

person. When approached, the victims deny being harassed and act as if offended by the very thought.

In the state of learned helplessness, the victims are frustrated by their own inability to act and escape

from their current state, and therefore direct the repressed anger towards the person offering help. The

fear of consequences of admitting that they have a problem and sharing it with others paralyzes them

and forces them to bury their problems even deeper, where nobody could see them. This is why it is

often hard to recognize those who suffer from abuse. How do we help them? How do we help those

who need help and protection most –the children? Is there a way to end this vicious circle and prevent

them from becoming aggressors themselves, by showing them that there is someone who can help

them?

This is the idea which motivated The Spanish children's advocacy group, ANAR (Aid to Children

and Adolescents at Risk), to create their new anti-abuse ad. They are trying to send a message to

everyone that they often do not or cannot notice that a child is molested and walk past this kind of

children every day, wrapped up in their own problems, unaware of the children’s suffering. Another,

special message is sent to the children, attempting to assure them that there is someone who can

protect them.

What is unique about this ad is that only children can see the message meant for them. This is

achieved with the help of lenticular printing, which enables viewing different images on the same

surface, depending on the angle from which it is viewed. If a person looking at the ad is taller than 5 foot

4, they can only see a sad boy and the following text: "Sometimes, child abuse is only visible to the child

suffering it." If a person is shorter, which means that they are up to 10 years old, they see a boy with

bruises on his face and a cut lip, and the inscription: "If somebody hurts you, phone us and we will help

you" on the left of the photo and a phone number they can call on the right. This way ANAR are trying to

reach out to the children who are perhaps in company of an adult, possibly the aggressor.