The South African Salvation Army is turning #TheDress into a conversation worth having.
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Over the past two weeks or so, “The Dress” (or #TheDress) has sparked something of an annoying debate between Facebook friends and work colleagues. In an attempt to find out whether the rags first posted on Tumblr are white and gold or blue and black, the hashtag #TheDress got tweeted over two million times according to Topsy. The hashtag #DressGate soon followed as a trending topic on social media, along with a personal facepalm.
Now however, in an effort to take something rather trivial and make it meaningful, the South African Salvation Army is using the popular hashtag to raise awareness on women abuse.
The charity recently tweeted the very clever catch phrase: “Why is it so hard to see black and blue? One in 6 women are victims of abuse. #StopAbuseAgainstWomen,” together with an image of a woman covered in bruises wearing the oh-so-popular The Dress.
Why is it so hard to see black and blue? One in 6 women are victims of abuse.
#StopAbuseAgainstWomen pic.twitter.com/FgDdKdsMMb
— TheSalvationArmySA (@SalvationArmySA) March 6, 2015
Compelling #domesticviolence victims campaign by @SalvationArmySA: Why is it so hard to see black & blue? pic.twitter.com/dKU6V5DQUE
— The Salvation Army (@salvationarmyuk) March 6, 2015
According to its website, The Salvation Army provides several shelters for abused women and their children and an opportunity for them to find healing and learn skills that will empower them to cope as self-reliant members of society.
Through its Carehaven initiative — located in the Western Cape of South Africa — it’s helped over 5 000 women and children so far.
This is not the first time South Africans have turned viral trends into social good. Last year we saw the #NekNominations change from downing beers then doing a stunt into random acts of kindness after a guy challenged the world to “change the world”. Big local brands quickly followed suit.
