Director’s Blog – Lisa Charlotte Davis
This is a clip from our Us Too soundscape where South African artist, Ester, describes her family witnessing her abuse, saying nothing and carrying on with life as usual.
“I feel alone. I feel trapped because, even though they’ve seen him smack me around previously, life goes on and you get used to them accepting it around you. The whole family became used to it. It became a way of life.”
We know that domestic abuse has the potential to negatively impact a survivor’s mental health. But what we can see here is that bystander inaction can further exacerbate the feelings of isolation a survivor is already experiencing.
Survivors we worked with at the Just for Women Centre in the making of our earlier artwork – Make Do and Mend – emphasised how much they wanted those around them to speak up:
“If someone has made you feel worthless, useless and like it’s all your fault, you don’t want to bother people with your problems, so you just say, “I’m fine.” You make excuses… But inside we’re desperate for your help.”
This might be someone in your family, a neighbour, a friend. Or it might be someone you work with.
Speak up!
Image credit: Lizzie Lovejoy. Sound by Rupert Philbrick.
