“Invisible violence”: Helena Anillo highlights hidden gender‑based abuse

On 25 November 2025, illustrator Helena Anillo published a piece titled “invisible violence” that seeks to make visible the hidden dimensions of gender‑based violence. The work underlines that formal complaints and reported incidents are only the tip of the iceberg: many forms of abuse—psychological coercion, emotional manipulation, economic control, isolation, threats and other non‑physical tactics—remain out of sight.

Anillo’s images stress how these less overt behaviours are embedded in everyday relationships and social structures, and how they can be normalised or minimised, which discourages victims from reporting. The illustration invites reflection on the gap between visible statistics and the wider, often unreported reality of harm.

The piece implies the need for broader awareness, detection and support measures that address both overt violence and its concealed forms, so that prevention and services respond to the full spectrum of gender‑based abuse.