A powerful new video created by South Tyneside charity Impact Family Services is sparking national conversation after exposing the shocking language and abuse young girls face daily.
The organisation’s CEO, Catherine Marchant, who is from Consett, has led the initiative as part of ongoing efforts to challenge harmful behaviours and break cycles of domestic abuse.
The video, which has already reached tens of thousands of viewers online, features school-aged girls holding up handwritten messages revealing real comments directed at them by boys and men. The content is deliberately uncensored, highlighting the raw and often disturbing reality many young females experience.
Catherine brings over 30 years of experience in the charity sector. After moving into consultancy in 2019, she joined Impact Family Services in December 2021 on an interim basis before becoming permanent CEO.
“I love the work but it’s the team that makes you stay,” she said. “They are supporting people in the most traumatic circumstances imaginable. It takes a very special kind of person.”
Impact Family Services supports individuals aged 4 to 82, offering crisis intervention, safety planning, one-to-one support, group programmes, and in-house counselling.
The charity works with individuals and families affected by domestic abuse, often across generations. In some communities, patterns of abuse are deeply embedded.
“In some communities, we are seeing fourth-generation domestic abuse,” she explained. “For many, this behaviour has become normalised, which makes it incredibly difficult to break the cycle.”
The organisation is actively delivering healthy relationships and consent workshops in schools, where concerning patterns are already emerging.
“Young people can identify abusive behaviours, but many are already experiencing them in their first relationships at a very young age,” she added.
The idea for the video came after discussions with education professionals working with teenage girls, who shared written accounts of the daily verbal abuse pupils were experiencing.
“The comments were horrific,” said Catherine. “We knew we couldn’t sanitise this—we had to show it as it really is.”
Initially presented to business leaders during a White Ribbon Campaign roundtable, the video provoked shock and urgent discussion. Following its impact, the charity worked with the girls to produce a more formal version for public release. Since launching, the video has received more than 129,000 views and has been shared over 1,000 times, sparking widespread online debate and discussion.
Importantly, the identities of all young participants are protected, with girls appearing anonymously while holding the messages.
“These girls are incredibly brave,” said Catherine. “They want to be part of the change. They don’t want this to continue.”
The video is available on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn via Impact Family Services.
Impact Family Services hopes the video will encourage open conversations, challenge harmful attitudes, and drive collective responsibility in tackling abuse.
“We cannot shy away from the truth,” Catherine added. “Only by confronting it can we begin to change it.”
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Photo: Stills from the video
Photo: Catherine Marchant
PR and media keith@highlightspr.co.uk 07814 397951