A simple black dot on a person's hand might hint towards something much bigger. The Telegraph reports that a social media campaign is underway to make the dot a silent, but powerful, signal about domestic abuse.
"The
Black Dot Campaign is to enable victims who cannot ask for help
verbally to ask for help with a simple black dot and people recognize
this and help," the campaign's Facebook page reads.
"This is a campaign to help the most vulnerable victims of domestic
violence." The idea is that if a victim puts a dot on their hand, loved
ones and survivor groups will recognize the cry for help and provide the
assistance he or she so desperately needs. Some people have also posted
their photos in solidarity, or as survivors who have already escaped
abuse.
The
campaign started earlier this month, and has already reached more than
five million people on social media. Some people have reportedly
criticized the campaign for spreading the word without educating support
organizations first, and for potentially putting victims in danger if
their abusers see the dot. But the founder of the group, who has
remained anonymous, has said the campaign has already helped many
people, and abuse victims often know what their abuser's triggers are
and whether the dot could be dangerous for them.
"It
can be very difficult and dangerous for victims of domestic abuse to
speak out about what is happening to them, due to fear of what the
perpetrator will do, and fear of not being believed," Polly Neate from
Women's Aid told The Huffington Post.
"The Black Dot could help some victims to communicate their abuse and
it is useful to have a range of options because women's circumstances
vary greatly."
After pancreatic cancer tragically took the life of Saige Seibold's
father on May 13th, 2015, she and her widowed mother, Sandy, decided to
remember him in a beautiful way on Father's Day. The
pair released a "#1 Dad" balloon with an attached letter at the site of
his grave—and what happened afterwards will bring tears to your eyes.
The
letter asked, "If you receive this [balloon], please make [Seibold's]
day by sending a response telling her who and where you are from. Thank
you in advance!"
"We thought the idea of the balloon, sending the balloon to heaven to her dad, was a good idea," Sandy told the NBC.
After
a tricky ascent—the balloon ribbons initially got caught in a power
line—a gust of wind blew the balloon and the note skywards. Seibold and
her mother then left the cemetery to run some errands and return home,
which was 25 miles away in Cement, OK.
But when the mother and
daughter arrived to their house, Seibold discovered an unbelievable gift
waiting for them. Tangled in the fence running along a pasture where
she often worked with her father was the very same balloon and note she and her mother had just sent off. The message in her father's honor had flown straight home, the very same day.
Seibold explained, "I think we started crying because it was just like a message from him...It has given us a lot of peace."
When Jaxon Strong was born with half of his brain and skull
missing, his doctors predicted that he'd have just days to live. But one
year later, this little guy has truly defied the odds.
Jaxon's mom, Brittany
Buell, was told when she was pregnant that "Jax's" brain had been
severely malformed and warned her that he was unlikely to survive the
pregnancy. Though physicians gave Brittany, and her husband Brandon,
30, the option to terminate, they didn't give up hope.
"I
was devastated. It was heart-breaking because something I always wanted
my whole life was happening, but then I was told there was a
possibility it might be a stillborn," Brittany told the Daily Mail.
But last August 27, Jax was born weighing four pounds.
"It
was very emotional. I remember holding him on day two and listening to
the doctors say my son would probably never walk, never talk, never know
when he's hungry, or never hear or see. They really did not expect him
to make it," Brandon said.
"We did everything we could to give him a fighting chance and all he's done since being born is fight right back," he added.
Jax, who has since been diagnosed with Microhydranencephaly, just celebrated his first birthday.
"It
is always in the back of my mind. I'm very aware that today maybe his
last day. I'm aware tomorrow he may not be here," Brittany shared. But
she says she feels blessed by the support she's been given.
Jaxon now has over 90,000 likes on Facebook as
well as a GoFundMe page, set up by Brandon's colleagues, which has
raised over $50,000 so Brittany can afford to stay home and take care of
Jaxon.
"He thrives with his mom, that
one-to-one stimulation that no other therapy can give. If we can keep
Brittany at home, giving him that 24/7 care is truly priceless and
that's what his account allows us to do," Brandon explained.
"It's
all been so overwhelming in a positive way because we can't go anywhere
without someone stopping us, and saying, 'hey, what's your story?' or
they would have seen his picture and say, 'hey, look it's Jax Strong!' –
his nickname! It's truly incredible the amount of people he has had an
impact on," Brittany said.
Christina Booth from Olympia, WA, is being held on $3 million dollar
bail with three counts of attempted murder after stabbing her three
young children.
According to the Daily Mail, Christina says her
husband, Special Forces soldier Thomas Booth, doesn't help with the
children and gets irritated when they make noise. When their
six-month-old twins and two-year-old daughter started crying Sunday
night, the mother slit their throats in an attempt to silence them.
KIRO 7
"My
babies won't calm down," Christina said in her 911 call to police after
stabbing them. Later, her husband came on the phone and explained that
the babies were bleeding and needed an ambulance.
During her
interview with authorities, detectives wrote: "Christina said she knew
if she killed all of
the kids, the house would be quiet for Thomas." The
mother is on medication for postpartum depression. The couple had inconsistent statements in their interviews, but it's
expected that Thomas will not have any charges brought against him.
All the children are now in protective custody, and in stable condition at a local hospital.
Madeline Stuart, an 18-year-old Australian model with Down syndrome, first went viral earlier this year after her stunning photos were posted on Facebook.
Since then, Stuart and her mom Rosanne have been fielding international
modeling requests. Most recently, Stuart signed to walk in New York
Fashion Week with MODA in association with the Christopher Reeve
Foundation. She has also been working with handbag company EverMaya and
will be the face of a new line of handbags (all named after her!)
launching Friday. Rosanne spoke to Cosmopolitan.com about how her
daughter's modeling is changing people's perceptions about intellectual
disabilities and what Madeline's impact on the world will be. Congratulations on New York Fashion Week! What a big deal.
Yes! There's a lot of big deals happening at the moment, it's ridiculous! What was your first reaction to hearing the NYFW news?
When we were asked to do New York Fashion Week, it didn't surprise me. I
don't think anything really surprises me anymore. She's been asked to
do a lot of stuff and I was hoping to she'd get asked to do NYFW but I
assumed it would happen. I hope that doesn't sound too pretentious.
No, that's so exciting. It is very exciting and it's going to take her from one level to the next. I know [American Horror Story
actress who also has Down syndrome] Jamie Brewer did it in February,
but she is a movie star, she's not a model. With Madeline, this is her
career, so I think it's going to be a great platform for her. When Madeline first went viral, she called Brewer an inspiration. Have they since met?
We did meet Jamie in L.A. How was that?
It was great. She's a lovely young lady. She's very high-functioning, a
lot higher functioning than Maddy. She's just beautiful. I don't think
I've ever met someone with Down syndrome who isn't beautiful. They just
have the most amazing personalities. She was so excited to meet
Maddy; she'd been following her on Twitter for months. One of the first people to follow Madeline on Twitter was that supermodel Karlie Kloss. Isn't that amazing? Maddy's social media accounts have grown exponentially since they were created in May. How do you explain that kind of growth?
There hadn't been anyone who chased this dream, whereas Madeline really
chased it. She wanted this and she worked hard for it. I've done
everything I can on the business end to get her to this stage. Now it's
just her working her charm.
Hair by Yvette Rey, makeup by Mandy Phan and Jessica Chu.
Do you also think the world was ready for someone like Madeline to be in the spotlight?
The world was ready. The world wants to be inclusive, it just hasn't had
anyone on such a platform that they were able to do it easily. I
remember when I was a child at school, people were homophobic and things
like that, and now it's cool to be gay! Imagine in 10 years what
society will be like for people with disabilities. It's not going to be
how it is now, it's going to be the norm. It's probably going to be cool
to hang out with someone who has an intellectual disability because you
know that they care more about emotions than they do about the
materialistic world. Everyone's going to want that friend to teach them
what true love is.
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Where do you most see enthusiasm for Maddy's work?
You can see it with Instagram. It's mainly young people and I see people
putting on Madeline's Instagram "Madeline #HairGoals," "Madeline
#RelationshipGoals," "Madeline #FigureGoals," "Madeline, oh my god,
you're prettier than I am, fashion sense on cue or something like that."
This is the next generation! These are young girls who are never going
to grow up being discriminatory! When Maddy was born, I can remember
walking around the street with people abusing me saying she should be in
an institution, and that was 18 years ago! How has the modeling affected your relationship? It's
not about the modeling for me. It's about my daughter being happy. This
is about showing the world how easy it is to talk to someone with an
intellectual disability, how easy it is to walk up to someone and make
them realize they're the same! Like she said to me a minute ago, "Mum,
hug," and I jumped into bed and gave her a hug. I put down my work and
gave her a hug because that's what she wanted in that moment and that's
what I cherish. You don't always get those moments.
Why
dump your significant other in real life when you can take out a
digital billboard ad to call them out on their morning commute? At
least, that's what one woman from Sheffield, U.K., did.
The woman, who according to AdWeek is
known as Lisa, wrote the billboard message to inform her husband that
she knows he cheated. Not only that, though, but she also said, "When
you get home I won't be there." The message called her husband Paul out by his first name, and she even ended it with, "Enjoy your drive to work!"
A Greek design company have created the answer to every London office worker’s prayers - a desk that has a bed inside it.
To the naked eye, the ingenious piece of furniture looks
like your average nine-to-fiver’s desk, but pull down side panels and it
reveals a cosy sleeping spot.
The end of the box folds out so you can lay comfortably with
your head propped up - and the top of the desk still remains intact so
others can continue working whilst you’re catching some shut eye below
deck.
Ever felt like a short nap was all you needed to make your workday bearable? Studio NLThe nap desk was created by design studio, Studio NL, who
told archilovers: "The main concept was to comment on the fact that many
times our lives are “shrinking” in order to fit into the confined space
of our office.
The bed is disguised within an unassuming office desk
"this desk could be used for a siesta or for a few hours of
sleep at night on those days when someone struggles to meet deadlines."
Sadly the desk is just a prototype, but let's hope it comes to liberate Londoners who regularly work around the clock soon.
Seibold explained, "I think we started crying because it was just like a message from him...It has given us a lot of peace."
"My
babies won't calm down," Christina said in her 911 call to police after
stabbing them. Later, her husband came on the phone and explained that
the babies were bleeding and needed an ambulance.
The couple had inconsistent statements in their interviews, but it's
expected that Thomas will not have any charges brought against him.
The couple had inconsistent statements in their interviews, but it's
expected that Thomas will not have any charges brought against him.
No, that's so exciting. It is very exciting and it's going to take her from one level to the next. I know [American Horror Story
actress who also has Down syndrome] Jamie Brewer did it in February,
but she is a movie star, she's not a model. With Madeline, this is her
career, so I think it's going to be a great platform for her.
Do you also think the world was ready for someone like Madeline to be in the spotlight?
"this desk could be used for a siesta or for a few hours of
sleep at night on those days when someone struggles to meet deadlines."