
Often times victims of domestic abuse either do not report the issue or are not taken as seriously as they should be. In this visual text there are three images which all show examples of domestic abuse that may differ from the usual image of domestic abuse. This is because this visual text adds more detail and hyperbolizes verbal abuse in order to show that not only is it as bad as domestic abuse but it shows just how awful domestic abuse is on its own. The terribleness of domestic abuse and the struggle to escape it is supported in this text through the use of coloring, facial expressions, and other added details such as the arms coming out of the mouths of the abusers.

One of the major supporting points for the main theme is showing how awful verbal abuse can be. In this visual text there are three images of women who are clearly being verbally berated by their husbands. While this in itself is usually a frightening sight for both the victim and other onlookers, the severity is significantly increased by the addition of one detail. This detail is the fact that all of the men in these images have an arm coming out of their mouths. While this is already a disturbing sight it is further worsened by the fact that these arms end in a fist which meets with the face of the women they are yelling at. This is done to draw the parallel between verbal abuse and domestic abuse. It brings them onto the same level and portrays them as equally horrible actions.

Another way in which this visual text portrays the horror of domestic abuse is through the color choice in the images. The visual text uses a very bleak tone that removes or darkens almost all of the colors. This is done to accent the fact that this is a very dark time in the life of the victim and they are quickly losing hope, unable to see the good or light in the world. However, there is still a very faint whitish color in the background of these images which is that slight hope that they do still have in the back of their minds. This is also included to encourage victims of domestic abuse that there is hope and they should seek help and attempt to escape their current situation.

Along with showing how appalling domestic abuse is, this visual text also brings attention to one of the major problems the victim has which is escaping their abuser. This is done by quite literally showing the abuser with a firm grip on the victim in two out of the three images in order to show that often times the abuser can stop them from escaping. While they may not always physically stop the victim from escaping most victims are too scared to try to leave out of fear for what their abuser might do to them if they caught them which is shown in the third image. This visual text knows that often people will not be brave enough to help themselves but wants to let them know that they can be safe and that there is help out there for them and also hopes that it will encourage others to reach out and help those that need it.

Lastly and one of the major ways in which this visual text depicts the misery of domestic abuse is through the facial expressions of the people in the images. Beginning with the face of the man there is a very clear sense of anger on his face. This shows that domestic abuse is very clearly a hateful act and not something anyone who ever loved someone would do to them. This goes along with the fact that some domestic abuse victims blame themselves or think that even though they are being beaten by their spouse that they still love them or care about them. The portrayal of disgust and rage on the men’s faces quickly dispels this thought and seeks to encourage the victim that anyone who commits domestic abuse is not a loving person and that they should not stay with them. Then moving onto the other half of the visual text we have the women’s facial expressions. These tell a very different story of those then the men. On the women’s faces you can see a sense of pain, fear, and sadness. Each woman is shown on the verge of tears, with eyes closed, unable to even look at their partners. Along with this you can also read their body language and see that they are tensing their necks because they are used to being thrown, pushed, and punched and have learned to brace for the impact. This accurately portrays the state of fear and pain that the victim is in during domestic abuse and further shows that it is such a huge problem partly because often times the victim is too scared to do anything about it.

 In the world today domestic abuse is thankfully taken much more seriously than it was previously. However, there are still far too many cases of active domestic abuse because of cases that are not taken seriously and victims who are too frightened to escape it. That is why this visual text portrays the horrors of domestic abuse through by using powerful images that also show the awfulness of verbal abuse and makes a parallel between the two. Through this they are able to use facial expressions to display the anger and hatred on the face of the abuser while also showing the fear, pain, and sadness that is suffered by the victim. Along with this a bleak, almost colorless tone is added on top of the images in order to show the lack of hope and the darkness that fills the victim. Lastly, this visual text also shows the hardships and consequences that those who try to escape abuse face or believe they will face if they try to escape. All of these elements are combined in order to show the appalling nature of domestic abuse and how it is very difficult to escape once you are in it.
