'What the heck was happening?': Blunt ad 'shocks' reader of vintage magazine

“It would be good if there were still ads like this, and I really don’t think the ad is reflective of the time as much as reflective of the awareness.” Warning: Sensitive content.

A man has shared his shock after finding a full-page ad tackling a sensitive topic in an ‘antique’ copy of The Australian Women’s Weekly.

The man took to Reddit to say he was flicking through a copy of the magazine from 1981 when he stumbled across a full-page ad from the Health Commission of New South Wales warning parents of the dangers of incest.

The ad reads ‘Some sons and daughters might be more than brother and sister’.

“Incest is not a pretty word. But incest does happen,” the ad reads.

Naturally, the fairly brutal ad drew the question: ‘What the heck was happening to prompt this full-page ad?’.

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The ad in a 1981 copy of The Australian Women's Weekly. Picture: Reddit

"People were being encouraged to seek help for the first time"

Unfortunately, other Redditors said sexual assault was still prevalent in more modern times, particularly among family groups.

“Having worked in sexual health, incest is a lot more common than I’d like it to be,” one person wrote.

“Back then I think it was common to use the term ‘incest’ to refer to what could be described more accurately now as sexual abuse by a parent or sibling,” another person wrote.

“The conversation was only just beginning to happen in a serious way, and there was not the same level of understanding of the issue as there is now.”

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“To be honest, it’s nice that you might be naive to the reality of how rife sexual abuse was within the family home during the 80s,” another person wrote.

“The fact is that people were no longer being ‘shamed’, but were being encouraged to seek help for the first time in decades.

“Women were also fighting for themselves in new ways, and were becoming more free in their rights.

“The mention in a women’s magazine also offered a safe platform to reach more females in a way where abusers might not notice as easily.

“Of course, it hasn’t exactly entirely gone away either - it’s just publicly shamed.”

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Commenters said the ad was part of a campaign raising awareness of the prevalence of family sexual assault. Picture: Reddit

"I doubt it's gotten any better"

The ad also dredged up other heartbreaking stories of magazines touching on very dark topics.

“In the late 90s and early 2000s, Girlfriend and Dolly magazines were full of stories of teen girls being raped by family members,” one woman wrote.

“At least two a month, plus there were also reader questions from teen girls being raped and molested.

“I doubt it’s gotten any better, unfortunately.”

“This is still unfortunately extremely common,” another person wrote. “‘Incest’ is more often used to describe familial rape or sexual abuse rather than for two ‘consenting’ family members in a relationship.

“It would be good if there were still ads like this, and I really don’t think the ad is reflective of the time as much as reflective of the awareness they must have had of the incredible amount of family sexual abuse that occurs.”

Originally published as 'What the heck was happening?': Blunt ad 'shocks' reader of vintage magazine