With all eyes on the Euros, House 337 and Women’s Aid have leveraged the tournament as a national platform for domestic abuse awareness. The latest iteration of the ‘He’s Coming Home’ campaign, ‘No More Years of Hurt’, aims to highlight the suffering that is hiding in plain sight.

While the Euros are an exciting time for the nation to come together and cheer the England football team on, research from Lancaster University shows that incidents of domestic abuse increase by 38% when the England team lose. Even when they win or draw, cases still spike by 26%.

Originally launched during the World Cup, the ‘He’s Coming Home’ platform set out to bring awareness to the issue. Launched in time for this year’s Euros, ‘No More Years of Hurt’, highlights that, while football doesn’t cause domestic violence, it can correlate with an increase in abuse.

As part of the campaign, the partnership hijacks classic football scarves and well-known football chants. Playing on the recognisable imagery, the scarves sport the slogans ‘No More Years of Hurt’, ‘He’s Coming Home’ and ‘England Till I Die’.

Out-of-home and social media assets feature the scarves with common misogynistic phrases and terms. On first glance, the words appear as just part of the accessory’s pattern, but looking closer reveals something more harmful and sinister.

The carefully crafted design is intended to reflect how domestic abuse is hidden in plain sight, using terminology that perpetuates abuse. Ignoring domestic abuse only allows it to continue, so the scarf’s design encourages people to pay attention to what might not seem obvious at first, but is clearly there.

The choice aptly portrays Women’s Aid’s desire to move abuse from a private, hidden sphere, and into the public’s awareness.

Since late June, the OOH ads have been displayed nationwide, via Clear Channel and Ocean Outdoor sites. To further spread the message, the scarves were sent to influencers for social media ads, with the campaign to run on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

The timing of this new iteration could not be better, not only is the UK gripped by the Euros, but it is also in the midst of a general election. Occurring against a social backdrop where violence against women is at its highest, but funding for women’s services is at its lowest, ‘No More Years of Hate’ sheds valuable light on an ongoing issue at a time when change is vital.