The tragic and important reason men share photos of their painted nails

To raise awareness of child abuse, men are sharing photos of their painted fingernails with the hashtag #PolishedMan. By painting a nail each and spreading the hashtag, these men represent one in five children who suffer physical and sexual abuse before the age of 18.

The campaign started after the CEO of Australia-based nonprofit Ygap Elliot Costello met a young girl, Thea, while on a trip to a Hagar International charity project in Cambodia. Elliot and Thea spent the day playing games together. At the end of the day, Elliot let Thea paint his nails.

It wasn’t until the next day that Elliot learned that Thea had been raped every day while she was in an orphanage. To raise awareness for children like Thea, Elliot is now asking men around the world to paint a single fingernail.

A representative for the campaign told Buzzfeed News that in addition to raising awareness, campaign staff also hope to raise funds for children with a history of abuse. Additionally, they hope the campaign promotes positive male role models. The representative said:

%shareLinks-quote=”By challenging men, we empower them as leaders and encourage them to become part of the solution. Our hope is to create a global movement that creates change in the conversation about what it means to to be a man ” type=”quote” author=”#PolishedMan-Representative” authordesc=”” isquoteoftheday=%

It takes both men and women to bring about change and progress on important issues like child abuse.

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