Abuse ads - Is target being reached?

I think we can all agree that the majority of abuse/assualt prevention ads use the emotional appeal when trying to reach women and others in abusive and dangerous situations. They have the picture of the woman beaten or scarred and then the telephone number and a quick header that says something like, "Take back control" or "Help is just a phone call away."

This post was inspired by something I read in my daily adrants email about a new ad for a The Pink Line, an abuse hotline. See ad below-

They commented on how the ad focuses "on the traumatic moment may actually miss the point." I agree, and furthermore, I have to think that a lot of women might be in denial about their situation, which is why they would say, "oh, that ad doesn't represent me." The adrants guys went on to suggest that maybe an image of "life after help" would work better to reach people in these situations. I think they may be onto something. I think it's hard to reach people who may be in denial or afraid though. How do you reach someone if they don't believe they belong in their own demographic? Maybe there is a way to reach them through another demographic? Or maybe they need to attack the denial problem within the ads. This would also bring awareness to friends who are suspicious of abuse.

I think this is an important issue and maybe The Pink Line and others should spend a little more on testing to find the best possible way to reach their target.