According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, only 271 cases of emotional abuse were reported in 2017, in a nation of 100 million.

Because the Philippines is a Catholic and conservative country, people don’t think verbal abuse is something you need to call help for, especially since its government leaders casually do it. Which is why the radio ad’s censorship bleeps was able to create disruption and definitely caught the ears of its listeners.

Verbal abuse can eventually lead to domestic violence. But in the Philippines, verbal abuse is taken lightly. Spark Philippines, an affiliate of UN Women, launched a radio ad that used censorship bleeps that initially block out profanity to send women a message about calling for help.

The ad is about a man verbally abusing his wife with curses and insults. The bleeps escalate and transform quickly into a n ‘S.O.S.’ signal in Morse Code. It was launched on International Women’s Day and aired on 27 stations across the country for a month.