Can you tell us a little bit about the origins and goals of The Polished Man?
Polished Man originated from a trip I took to visit a project partner Hagar International in Cambodia. One evening, I met a young girl named Thea. Due to our language barrier, we played naughts and crosses and other games for hours. At the end of the night, Thea drew a love heart on my palm, and then painted all of my nails blue.
The following day, I heard about how Thea came to be Hagar’s care. When she was eight, her father – the family’s sole breadwinner – passed away and Thea’s mother sent her to an orphanage, hoping to give her safe refuge. Instead Thea was physically and sexual assaulted on a daily basis for two years by the orphanage’s director.
I made the decision to paint one nail to remember Thea. When I later found out 1 in 5 children are affected by violence before the age of 18, the Polished Man movement was born.
This year, we’re aiming to raise over $700,000 to support the best trauma prevention and trauma recovery programs for children around the world. We also want to see this movement continue to go global. No country or community is immune to child violence.
The charity has been running for a few years now. What are some of the positive changes you’ve seen?
In 2015 alone, our Polished Man Campaign raised $374,000. We invested in the best trauma prevention and trauma recovery programs around the world. In terms of trauma prevention, YGAP has supported 60 impact entrepreneurs who are tackling the issue. It helped improve the lives of 47,618 people living in poverty, one of the biggest predictors of violence against children.
The Mothotlung Network in South Africa provided trauma education to 5,306 children. Childwise ran 20 parent training sessions in Australia about how to recognise and prevent violence. The Samburu Girls Foundation in Kenya rescued 11 girls from beading, female genital mutilation and child marriage, then provided them with a quality education.
Hagar International provided support to five child victims of severe trauma including counselling, accommodation, legal representation and an education and a team of therapists at the New York Centre for Children helped more than 80 children recover from trauma through free, comprehensive services.
Have you seen an evolution in the conversation regarding prevention of violence in children?
Absolutely. We were nervous launching our first Polished Man Campaign in 2014. We had no idea how men would respond. People commonly told us that men simply wouldn’t wear nail polish. But we were blown away by the response. First hundreds, then thousands, now tens of thousands of men have joined the movement to paint one nail and start a conversation about violence against children.
Many people in the sector told us that after decades of trying, they’ve been unable to engage men, so we are proud to provide the first step of both awareness and education on the issue.
What are some of the reasons your ambassadors are getting involved?
We’re incredibly fortunate to have the support of a diverse group of celebrity ambassadors leveraging their profiles to deliver the important message of Polished Man. What started as a group of volunteers drawing on their networks to contact people with high profiles has turned into celebrities organically joining the movement of their own accord. Last year, Ashton Kutcher blogged about the campaign and Vance Joy and Alec Baldwin posted photos online with their painted nail. This year, Chris Hemsworth joined the campaign which saw the Polished Man message pushed to 6.8 million with one instagram post.
All of these men are backing the campaign for their own unique reasons. Some are fathers, others just feel it’s their responsibility as role models to change the conversation about what it means to be a man by painting one nail and taking a stand to protect society’s most vulnerable.
