Here’s what you need to know about the Black Dot Campaign

The sad truth about domestic violence is that many who suffer through it suffer in silence as they find themselves unable or afraid to ask for help. But a new campaign seeks to empower domestic abuse victims in the most subtle way possible: With a tiny black dot.

The newly-minted Black Dot Campaign launched in early September with the express goal of “[enabling] victims who cannot ask for help verbally to ask for help with a simple black dot and people recognize this and help.” Through this, the campaign — which was founded by an anonymous survivor of domestic abuse — hopes to create a network of people who can identify the most vulnerable victims of domestic violence without driving them to immediately expose their plight.

In an interview with The Huffington Post, Women’s Aid CEO Polly Neate lends her support, stating that “the Black Dot Campaign could help some victims to communicate their abuse and it is useful to have a range of options because women’s circumstances vary greatly.”

Neate is just one of the many, many allies the campaign has earned since launching, including 5 million shares across social media. Still, Black Dot has met its fair share of criticism, with many people saying that if abusers learn about the campaign and see their victims sporting a black dot, it might put the abused in further danger. But as the Black Dot founder points out, they’re already in danger and any attempts to get help, be it talking to family members or seeking women’s shelters, could anger their abuser. That, after all, is the nature of the abuser.

“Any idea of ‘help’ in these circumstances have risks,” said the campaign’s founder in a Facebook post. “That’s why we continue to invent new ways to help. The black dot is not the only way to access help but it could be the one that could help a particular person.”

That’s true. It might not be the right fit for the millions of men, women, and children who face — and sometimes lose their lives — to domestic abuse each year, but it is a revolutionary new method that might help victims when they are too afraid to use the traditional channels available to them or need more covert means of reaching out and that counts.

To learn more about the Black Dot Campaign, visit https://www.facebook.com/blackdotcampaign.

(Image via Twitter.)