As tensions rise during political debates around the Thanksgiving dinner table or other family gatherings around the holiday season, so too, research has found, are cases of domestic violence on the rise. Societal expectations of being cheerful during the holidays often have the opposite effect on victims of abuse, which is why two leading domestic violence nonprofits are lighting up the streets of Times Square and beyond this week with their second national anti-domestic violence billboard campaign.

After receiving industry recognition for The Last I’m Sorry campaign, Safe in Harm’s Way Foundation, DomesticShelters.organd neonAn IPG healthcare company is teaming up again to raise awareness of domestic violence with another compelling PSA.

The PSA images thoughtfully use the body language of a husband and wife seated at the dinner table to highlight the underlying scars of emotional abuse. The man in the picture seems to rise above the woman and physically invade her space, while at the same time the woman shrinks in fear, discomfort, and shame. Along with the chilling image is the take-home message many abuse victims need to hear — “No one should make you feel small.”

“The essence of this campaign is the feeling you get when you feel less or diminished in an intimate relationship. The nuance is in that unspoken and painful relationship between partners. We focused on this simple truth so that people could also connect to their own lived experience on an intuitive level,” said Sam Lauro, Group Art Supervisor at Neon.

The imagery was created using CGI in collaboration with Carioca Studio, a full-service visual content house based in Romania, using elements of body language and expression to convey the uncomfortable feeling of being smothered in your own relationship become, bring to life.

Shown on 340+ national screens in high-traffic areas like the Times Square entrance, DC’s Union Station, office lobbies and elevators, gas stations…