Eurovision 2014 – raising awareness of domestic abuse?
Nicola Whitley – Associate Solicitor – Family – Domestic Abuse
Eurovision is upon us again. “Hooray”, I hear you murmur. This year, our hosts are Denmark. The Contest has an awray of songs, of varying style, as per usual, which includes Latvia who melodically strum along to the lyrics “I’ve got a cake to bake” (my personal favourite).
The song of interest, and maybe some controversy?, is Hungary’s. Their entry “Running” is about the singer’s mother being a victim of domestic violence and struggling to get away from it. It is accompanied by a quite striking dance routine between a man and woman (dressed in black and white respectively), quite dramatically and effectively expressing an abusive relationship.
Hungary made it through the semi final on Tuesday and will be singing at the live final on Saturday night. As a domestic abuse specialist, I found it interesting to see and wonder whether this song will we welcome in to the living rooms of Europe. Perhaps it will raise some discussion? Getting people talking about domestic abuse is a big step, if the discussion gets going, perhaps those in need will feel they can access help.
In the meantime, Latvia did not make it to the finals so my allegiance has changed to Iceland (obviously after my support goes to the UK’s own, Molly).