While traveling across Cambodia with a group of friends, Elliot Costello encountered a little girl named Thea.

Elliot had no idea that this encounter would have such a profound impact on him that it would motivate him to start a campaign to stop the use of children.

Every day, Thea’s little fingernails were painted. At one point, as they were talking, she requested Elliot to paint one of his nails. Although he was thrilled to speak with the gregarious girl after accepting, he later learned that she had had an incident.

Elliot stated, “I told her that I would always keep it that way to remember her, and by extension, her suffering, as she painted one of my nails.”

Elliot was inspired by this to work towards changing men’s attitudes in order to reduce the number of children who experience.

At that point, he created the #PolishedMan movement, in which men paint one of their nails. That single nail stands in for the one in five children who will experience.

Polished Man works towards ending violence against children. According to the organization, “being a Polished Man means challenging violent behavior and language, both locally and globally.”

According to Elliott, males should be the ones spearheading reform if we are going to halt the abuse of defenseless children, as they are accountable for 96% of this type of violence against children globally.

In addition to serving as a visual reminder of the issue, the painted nail is meant to provoke conversation about the pervasiveness of child abuse and provide ideas for new prevention measures. According to APlus, he also requests that people begin contributing to “support educational programs and resources for child survivors of abuse.”

We genuinely hope that additional men—even well-known men—will join us in this endeavor.

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