When Elliot Costello visited an orphanage in Cambodia in 2013, his life changed in ways he could never have imagined.
However, he did not know that this encounter would also change the lives of thousands of other people…
It all began in 2013 when Elliot Costello, a social entrepreneur from Australia, met a little girl named Tea.
She was a 10-year-old girl who, unfortunately, ended up in an orphanage after being rescued from a terrible situation. She had been physically and sexually abused for two years, and this abuse had left a deep mark on her. Unfortunately, without Elliot, we would never have known about this brave girl.
But let’s start from the beginning…
After her birth, Tea’s life turned out well. The Cambodian girl grew up like any other child, cared for and loved by her mum, dad and grandmother. But, unfortunately, fate had other plans for her. One day, her father suddenly passed away, and his death was devastating not only for her. In addition to being a traumatic, emotional event, Tei’s father was the sole breadwinner of the family. When he died, the family found itself in financial crisis.
Things went so badly that Tei’s mother could no longer care for her daughter and made the difficult decision to send Tei to an orphanage. Unfortunately, the girl’s life there turned into a living hell.
According to Polished Man, for two years, the director of the orphanage subjected Teya to physical and sexual abuse on a daily basis.
Eventually, Tea was transferred to another children’s home in Phnom Penh, run by Hagar International. During a visit there, Australian social entrepreneur Elliot Costello bonded with the child while playing tic-tac-toe. The ten-year-old girl radiated joy and positivity, despite everything she had been through.
Thea always had nail polish on her little nails, and one day she asked if she could paint Elliot’s nails. They sat, talked and had a wonderful time together.
‘When she painted one of my nails, I assured her that I would always remember her and, accordingly, her suffering,’ says Elliot.
Do you know how Polished Man started? It all began in 2013, when our co-founder Elliot Costello came up with…
Posted by Polished Man on Wednesday, 2 September 2020
Meeting Teya inspired Elliot to try to make a positive difference in men’s lives so that fewer children would become victims of sexual abuse. He also came up with the idea of starting a movement in which men would paint their nails as a sign of support.
Painting one nail also has symbolic meaning — one nail symbolises every fifth child who will become a victim of sexual abuse. If you look at the statistics, it becomes clear that we need to work tirelessly to solve this problem.
According to the YMCA, nearly 70 percent of all reported cases of sexual abuse involve children aged 17 and younger. Alarmingly, one in four girls and one in six boys are sexually abused before they turn 18.
Since men are responsible for 90 percent of such violence against children, Elliot believes that men should be the catalyst for change. To this end, many celebrities around the world have taken part in the nail painting trend.
Today, Polished Man continues its work to create a better, safer world for children. Their main goal is to prevent sexual abuse of children. According to representatives of the organisation, ‘being a Polished Man means challenging abusive behaviour and language, both locally and globally.’
One of the celebrities who has taken a firm stance is Chris Hemsworth, who posed for the organisation with painted nails.
‘Being @PolishedMan is not just about remembering to buy flowers, remembering to shout how many rounds you’re shouting and how much you’re lifting. It means saying “no” to child abuse,’ Hemsworth explained.
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Zac Efron and famous surfer Kelly Slater have also joined the social network, and we hope that more and more people will publicly express their position in the fight against child abuse.
The campaign started modestly a few years ago, but by 2014 it had attracted the attention of many major media outlets.
The organisation continues to work tirelessly and has now been in existence for ten years. According to Polished Man, $8.7 million has been raised to support programmes for the prevention of trauma and the rehabilitation of women and children who are or have been subjected to violence in Australia and around the world.
Well done, Elliot! We hope that men and more celebrities will join this movement!
