FKA Twigs fronts campaign against sexual and domestic violence

UK singer FKA Twigs is the face of a new global campaign that aims to stop and prevent domestic and sexual violence.

The musician appears in a short animated video to launch “Join the Chorus”, a joint initiative by domestic violence organisation NO MORE Foundation and The Commonwealth Secretariat.

The video tells the story of a bird that gets trapped in a tree and can only break free with the help of an entire community of birds.

“Home. It should be a space where we all feel safe. But for some, home can be a dangerous place with no escape,” she tells viewers.

“While one voice might go unheard, a chorus cannot be ignored. Together we can help free those harmed by domestic and sexual violence. Join the chorus, and say no more.”

“Join The Chorus” calls on members of the public to educate themselves about sexual and domestic violence.

Campaigners have created a “checklist” of different actions people can take, including learning how to help a loved one who is experiencing abuse and how to find local domestic violence and sexual violence organisations.

The latest Crime Survey for England and Wales estimated that for the year ending in March 2020, 773,000 adults aged between 16 and 74 were victims of sexual assault or attempts of sexual assault.

Almost 80 per cent of these victims (618,000) were women.

Additionally, approximately 2.3 million adults, including 1.6 million women and 757,000 men, were victims of domestic abuse in the same year.

In a statement announcing the launch of the campaign, Twigs said domestic and sexual violence is a human rights crisis.

“Only when we as a collective community normalize the conversation and insist on NO MORE violence against women will we finally end one of society’s most harmful ills.

“I am proud to be part of this global movement for change,” she said.

In December 2020, the singer sued her ex-boyfriend Shia LaBeouf for sexual battery, assault and emotional distress.

Responding to the allegations from Twigs and those from others, LaBeouf told The New York Times that many of them are “not true”, but he is sorry to those he hurt.

In an appearance on Louis Theroux’s BBC Radio 4’s podcast, Grounded, Twigs said she was left with post-traumatic stress disorder from the relationship.

“[Which] is just something that I don’t think we really talk about as a society just in terms of the healing when leaving, and how much work that has to be done to recover, to get back to the person that you were before,” she said.

“Join The Chorus” has been launched in 54 countries across the world.

The animation has also been recreated with a number of different actors from across the world, including Rose Byrne from Australia, Joselyn Dumas for Ghana and Mahira Khan from Pakistan.

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