A teenager’s TikTok video in which she urges people to be aware of the signs of domestic abuse has gone viral.
In the video, A-level student Amber can be seen miming along to Lily Allen’s Not Fair, which features lyrics such as ‘he treats me with respect’ and ‘he says he loves me all the time’.
What starts out as a light-hearted lip-syncing video soon takes a dark turn though; as the lyrics shift to ‘he calls me 15 times a day, he likes to make sure that I’m fine’, bruises begin to gradually appear on Amber’s face.
Having used makeup to cover her face to resemble bruises, the teenager can be seen in the video attempting to cover up the ‘contusions’ with foundation.
Alongside the video was the caption: ‘#pov your friend is trying to convince you the bruises you spotted aren’t from her boyfriend.’
The video has been viewed more than 1.9 million times on the video-sharing platform, and has so far been liked more than 211,000 times. The post has received hundreds of comments from people who have experienced domestic abuse, thanking the teenager for raising awareness of the matter.
While one person wrote, ‘Been here. Came out the other side,’ with another saying, ‘Thank you for doing this, I’m a survivor managed to get away 2017.’
Another survivor wrote, ‘Well this brought some unwanted memories back. It really opened my eyes to this song in a new light. This is so powerful.’
One man said it was an ‘amazing’ video, before adding, ‘It’s so upsetting so many girls have to go through things like this,’ while another said, ‘That is such a powerful idea/way to get attention to the cause.’
The 16-year-old responded to the comments, writing:
I did not expect this to blow up and is not intended to trigger or bring back memories for survivors but raise more awareness about warning signs.
Amber told BBC News she was motivated to make the video because someone close to her – a family friend – had experienced such abuse.
She explained:
The message of the video is don’t ignore the signs of domestic abuse. If you have the slightest concern, bring it up with the person.
I feel domestic abuse is something that should have more awareness.
Some TikTok users have been critical of the video, asking whether the content is too dark for the platform or too serious an issue for ‘pretend’ videos.
However, Amber insisted the video wasn’t intended to gain popularity for herself, adding, ‘It has a good message. I didn’t want people to think the video meant any harm.’
Hats off to Amber for using her platform to create such powerful and inspiring videos. You go, girl.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact the National Domestic Violence Helpline (run in partnership with Women’s Aid and Refuge) on 0808 2000 247.
A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).