Women and Men Against Child Abuse - Baby Monitor (2003)

 WARNING: The content of this post is about child sexual abuse, in a very explicit and uncovering way. Viewer discretion is advised.

During this time of the PSA, South Africa has been shocked by a series of rapes of babies and very young children, including a four-year-old who died after an alleged assault by her father. The police say there have been 21,000 cases of child rape or assault reported in the past year, mostly committed by male relatives of the victims. The figure had risen sharply in the past 10 years, they added.

The Northern Cape minister of health, Dipuo Peters, said: "I suspect that at least part of the reason these children were raped is because of the myth held in rural areas by men with HIV that they can cleanse themselves by having sex with a virgin."

From director Cindy Lee:

"When i was still a copywriter I was given this brief. Our job was to tell HIV positive men not to rape babies. That it would not cure them of AIDS. I knew that they would not listen to a tv commercial. So I decided instead to aim it at the women. My thinking was that we had to empower them. Because if they didn't stop the men, who would. So I wrote this commercial. It was the first commercial I directed. It won BEST OVERALL PSA at the MNET VUKA AWARDS."

Advertising Agency:Velvet Films, Johannesburg, South Africa

Executive Creative Director:John Culverwell

Creative Director:Cindy Lee

Copywriter:Cindy Lee

Art Director:Lapeace Kakaza

Agency Producer:Jannine Nolan

Director:Cindy Lee

Producer:Jannine Nolan

Lighting Cameraman:Carlos Carvalho

Editor:Jusstine Smollan