Strong and not silent

One in four women in Ireland who’ve been in a relationship have experienced domestic abuse and the situation has only worsened during the pandemic. 

To help raise awareness of this issue, Allianz Ireland is working with Women’s Aid, a national charity dedicated to making women safe from domestic abuse.

Created by Dublin agency In the Company of Huskies and superbly directed by Fern Berresford, through Rattling Stick, this stirring film, The World’s Strongest Women, focuses on four women who showcase real strength in the face of domestic abuse. 

With the edit and music (Mal Dicen, by Beauty Brain) reminiscent of Sport England’s spot This Girl Can, the ad brilliantly riffs on the sweat-soaked adrenalin rush of aerobic exercise, revealing instead the women's adrenalin is a reaction to fear. 

We see them squat, lift and stretch in the sports world, before getting a glimpse into their reality: each manoeuvre is really a survival tactic. A woman wall squatting against the door is in fact pushing back trying to keep an unseen aggressor out. A stretch is in fact a bid to hide money away while in a financially abusive relationship. 

And the final brave act is to break the cycle of violence and make a call to ask for help. Brilliant.