Ester Expósito recounts a chilling case of vicarious violence for the new Equality campaign

"For Inés, those were the three longest and most terrifying days of her life." In the Ministry of Equality's new campaign for November 25th, Ester Expósito narrates what is a real-life horror story for many women in the country. The Spanish actress explains a fictional case of vicarious violence, written by the Argentinian Hernán Casciari, in which a father kidnaps his daughter with the aim of hurting his ex-partner and forcing her to return to him.

The campaign against gender-based violence was launched this Monday and is titled The treasure huntThe short film shows only Expósito telling the story in close-up. Through an emotional monologue, she focuses on vicarious violence, but also on how the couple's relationship became abusive, encompassing many other forms of abuse. gender violenceFrom checking her phone to physical assaults or harassment.

As explained by the Minister of Equality, Ana Redondo, the objective is "to raise awareness, to understand how complex vicarious violence is, and also to provide alternatives, to continue moving forward." In the short film, which is about six minutes long, the actress narrates how she received a seemingly harmless message: a man asked her to record a video for a "treasure hunt" with which he planned to propose to his girlfriend. According to the story, the relationship (like so many others) started normally, until Inés, the girl, lost her job and began to be under Matías's control. At that moment, everything goes wrong, and he becomes jealous, monitors her, and even hits her.

Inés leaves Matías, but he ends up kidnapping Amelie, their daughter, for three days. When the mother arrives home, she finds a treasure hunt, a game of clues, but her abuser doesn't want to propose marriage. Instead, he wants to force her to return to him if she wants to see her daughter again. One of the clues is a video of Expósito in which she says, deceived by what she thought was a romantic surprise: "I hope you want to spend your whole life with him. Because if not, Matías will be very sad and you'll never see your treasure again." For her part, the Spanish government's delegate against Gender Violence, Carmen Martínez Perza, highlighted that the most chilling aspect of the campaign is seeing how a child can be used as a tool to harm their mothers, and that while the violence isn't shown in the ad, it can be felt. The aggressor isn't seen either, "although his presence is felt throughout." So far this year, three minors have been victims of fatal vicarious violence in Spain. There have been 65 cases since 2013, the year the Ministry of Equality began recording data.