Polished Man is in its seventh year now. Many people know that the campaign is run by Elliot Costello, but not many people know why.
Since 2014, Elliot has been conducting a fundraising and awareness campaign called Polished Man.
Elliot was a former ygap CEO and co-founder when he visited Cambodia in 2013 along with one of the Polished Man benefit partners, Hagar International, the idea for Polished Man was born. Thea was in Hagar’s care as a result of the long-term abuse she had endured at the hands of the director of the orphanage where she had previously resided, Elliot discovered after spending time with Thea, a young girl who painted his fingernails blue and drew a heart on his palm.
Elliot was moved by Thea’s story, and after he got back home, the idea for Polished Man emerged. This was a campaign that asked people to paint one of their nails blue for the entire month of October in order to start conversations and raise money for the prevention of trauma and treatment of trauma in children all over the world. The campaign’s name acknowledges that men both perpetrate and experience significant amounts of violence and are less likely to seek help to heal.
By encouraging everyone to paint their nails, have challenging conversations about subjects that are typically taboo, and generate much-needed funding to support efforts to end violence against children. Polished Man seeks to change the narrative and break the cycle of violence.
Elliot discovered that men need to be the voice of change for this abuse of innocent children to end since 96% of this type of violence on kids worldwide is perpetrated by males. The Polished Man’s website, dedicated to raising awareness in order to stop sexual violence against kids, states that “being a Polished Man means challenging violent behavior and language, both locally and globally.”
On a hand of five nails, the one nail stands in for the tragically 1 in 5 children who will experience sexual assault at some point in their life. Elliot encourages men to become a #PolishedMan by painting one fingernail for a week.
According to APlus, the ultimate goal is to raise awareness of the fact that thousands of children are abused every day and suffer the long-term effects of it, not only by noticing a colorful nail on a person.
Elliot would prefer that the fingernail serves as a catalyst for a discussion about this depressing reality. The objective is that such discussion will generate additional suggestions for ending sexual assault and perhaps even donations to “fund educational initiatives and services for child survivors of abuse.”
Watch the video below for more details:
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