Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1253597
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 31 MAY 2020 12 TVM THURSDAY 6:30PM Communiqué campaign promotes domestic violence helpline 179 AS part of its Corporate So- cial Responsibility (CSR) pro- gramme, marketing services company Communique' recent- ly made available its expertise to the Commission on Gender Based Violence & Domestic Vi- olence and implemented a cam- paign aimed at addressing the heightened incidence of domes- tic violence within local fami- lies in the context of the stay- at-home scenario as a result of COVD-19. The campaign, which focused on highlighting the availability of the 179 helpline for victims of domestic violence, includes posters at bus shelters around the island, as well as messages carried on Malta's major on- line news portals. Commenting on the cam- paign, Communiqué Manag- ing Director Bernice Micallef stated that statistics indicating higher levels of domestic vio- lence in local households re- flected growing tensions within these households. "This has not only rendered more vulnerable the members of families which had already been subjected to the reality of domestic violence – both emotional and physi- cal – but it was also creating tensions in families where such traits had hitherto not been ev- ident", Micallef said. Micallef added that experi- ence working on another EU campaign entitled 'Breaking the Cycle of Violence' had in- dicated that women affected by domestic violence were not on- ly Maltese or English speaking, and therefore the 179 aware- ness campaign was designed al- so to include messages in Ital- ian, French, German, Serbian and Filipino. Two of the cam- paign messages were aimed at empowering women to call the freephone for support, while the third message encouraged the perpetrators to stop the vi- olence. Communiqué's agency's cre- atives had developed powerful visuals which highlighted the trauma of domestic violence and drove home the message of support being made availa- ble to the victims. Micallef said that this cam- paign would not have been possible without the efforts made together with the team from the Commission on Gen- der Based Violence & Domes- tic Violence and the support of companies such as Faces, Paza, Mapfre Middlesea, as well as news portals timesof- malta.com, independent.com. mt, maltatoday.com.mt, news- book.com.mt, netnews.com. mt, inewsmalta.com, tvm.com. mt, and lovinmalta.com. She augured that the cam- paign would encourage the victims of domestic violence to find the courage to turn to the 179 helpline for support, and that these victims would be given all possible help in cop- ing with their predicament. COMMERCIAL