This image, Hands, is an advertisement created by the organization Casa Do Menor to fight the widespread problem of sexual abuse on children. In this image, a young girl is pictured naked and covered in hands in what appears to be a nice, well-furnished yet dark and eerie living room scattered with picture frames and children’s toys, one of which is actually in the hands of the girl. These attributes of the picture begin to allow viewers to form an idea of the emotions included here. Many features in this advertisement are used to help the image portray the meaning that Casa Do Menor is attempting to get across to the viewer. In this image, the creator’s use of the crowded orientation and clearly defined shape of the hands as the focal point, the darkness and dullness of color, the real life texture of the girl, and finally how the sexually abused individual is represented all play a role in determining the purpose of the advertisement. 

This image immediately draws the eyes of the observer to the center where the young girl stands with hands covering her entire nude body. Upon closely analyzing the hands surrounding her the first thing I noticed about them were the crowded orientation in which they were placed around the girl. In other words, all the hands seemed to jam-packed into the same relative position. On the surface level, it’s easy to see how the hands represent the abuse to the child; however, the crowding makes the girl, and the hands surrounding her, the center and most critical piece of the picture to viewers. This is especially true when considering that this is done in contrast to a very sparse background. Essentially, the hands and the way they are oriented help to focus the viewer’s eyes to the most important element of the image, the girl in this case. 

Along with the orientation, the clearly defined shape of the hands that surround the girl, and simply the use of hands themselves, aid in giving the image meaning as well. When analyzing the purpose behind the advertisement creators use of the hands consider the action done by the hands of the abuser. While the act of abuse is obviously done by a person as a whole, the actual physical contact during this action is between the hands of the abuser and the body of the child being abused; therefore, the hands symbolize how it is not the abuser the child is fearful of but the hands of the person doing so. The hands are all shaped in a way where they appear to be grabbing the girl and holding on. The hands being shaped in such a way are indicators of the fact that child abuse, specifically the hands of the abuser, stays with them forever. In other words, the grabbing and holding onto the girl done by the hands symbolizes how the child will hold onto the memory of the sexual abuse for a lifetime. When looking at the hands as a single unit, opposed to them individually, the shape of them clearly becomes that of a dress. When an individual uses clothing items in their everyday life the purpose of doing such is to wear the clothes. Therefore, the girl wearing a dress of abusive hands symbolizes how children wear the marks of their abuse both on their body and in their mind. Based on all of this, the shape of the hands as a whole and their individual shape work in unison here to show how much a child is truly affected by sexual abuse. 

Two more features of the image that work together to greatly affect the meaning are the color and lighting used. Most pieces of the image hold a dark and dull coloration. The use of this color scheme contributes to the advertisement by using another method to highlight the key aspect of the image and giving the picture a negative connotation. Just as the crowded orientation of the hands helped to focus the viewer’s eyes on the girl in the center, the use of darkness throughout the picture contrasting with the bright lighting that the girl is shown in actually works to do the same thing. The use of two different methods to focus the viewer to the girl stresses the importance Casa Do Menor intended to put on that part of the picture. Along with that, often times dark and dull coloration, like the one in this image, hold a negative connotation and represent sadness or fear which goes hand in hand with the message that the ad intends to send. When anyone thinks of child abuse the emotions that are immediately associated with it are almost always sadness and heartbreak. This is due to the obvious and widespread belief that no child should have to suffer through such traumatic and horrible events. The use of these colors also represents fear because when a child has repeatedly been sexually abused throughout their life they live in a constant state of fear when around the individual that has been doing these disgraceful acts to them. Therefore, the use of the gloomy colors as a visual element symbolize and illuminate two prominent emotions of the image. 

Another interesting use of color is how the only two components of the image that do not hold a dull color are the toys that belong to the girl. In the advertisement the girl is holding a Barbie doll that is wearing a pink dress; along with that, sitting atop a table is a doll of some sort that is colored in bright red, yellow, and blue. The bright colors of the two toys in the image have a strong contrast to the dreary colors of the rest of the image. The use of contrasting colors between most of the image and the toys symbolize the young age of the girl and how the girl was forcefully introduced to sexual activity during a time period where most children don’t even know what sex is, much less have to deal with it as abuse. The contrasting of colors, between dull colors and bright ones, in this image overall serves to emphasize the youth of the girl while she is dealing with these issues. 

One visual feature that strengthens the image as an advertisement is the real life texture that is used in the image. The fact that a real child is used, opposed to that of an animation or cartoon, is useful in this advertisement for two reasons. The first reason is because it allows the viewer to connect with the child in the image and create the emotion of sadness in those who view the image as the real life portrayal makes the situation feel much more genuine. The emotion that the viewer feels upon connecting with the girl makes them feel a need to help her. Since she is unable to be helped, however, considering that she is just the model for the advertisement, the connection made in turn urges viewers to help the cause the advertisement is supporting rather than the individual and therefore strengthens the meaning. The second reason is because, along with the viewer’s newfound connection with the individual, a connection is made between the girl and the meaning of the image. In the advertisement, the young girl acts as a symbol for the cause. Considering this, when observers of the image think about childhood sexual abuse in the future they will have an example of an individual who underwent these torturous events to look back on. Furthermore, when looking back on this, these viewers will remember how awful this real life textured girl portrayed the effects of sexual abuse. Therefore, this second connection made further helps to urge the viewer to contribute to the cause being supported by the image as it gives a model of how much sexual abuse during childhood affects the individual. Fundamentally, the use of real life people in advertisements specific to fighting a cause strengthens what the advertisements stands for as it gives observers an example of someone who has endured that event and allows people to connect with this example.  

The final visual feature of the image that influences it as a whole is the creator’s representation of the young girl being abused. When closely looking at how the girl is portrayed in the image there are two important elements. The first of these is the nudity of the girl. The fact that the girl is naked in this image symbolizes how it is the body of the young girl that is being touched and harmed for the pleasure of the degenerate adult who is abusing her, and, along with that, emphasizes to the viewer the underdevelopment of children and how regardless of maturity children are still sexually abused. Therefore, the use of nudity in this image helps the creator to not only define the characteristics of the sexual abuse of children but also works to strengthen the purpose as nudity, especially the nudity of children, is a taboo in our society. The second element is the depressing look upon the young girls face. The look that is plastered across her face is, on the surface, an obvious way of representing how sexual abuse breaks down the will of a child and leaves them in a constant state of depression. However, the deeper reason for giving the individual a mournful look is that, just like using a real life individual, this look creates a strong emotion in the viewer. The creation of emotion in those who come across the advertisement urges them to support the cause that is being portrayed and, due to this, bolsters the purpose of the image. 

All in all, the use of the crowded orientation and clearly defined shape of the hands, the gloomy color scheme, the physical texture of a real human being, and the portrayal of the girl all work collectively to produce the meaning that the image holds and additionally aid in the detection of its purpose. Through the application of the many visual elements Casa Do Menor creates an advertisement that shows that horror the goes along with the sexual abuse of children and uses it to create an influential advertisement working against this. The significance of this image analysis is that it takes a deeper look into how the visual features used affect the image, but also the methods advertisers use to create a stronger project. 
