The First Campaign:

Caged Birds Sing Inc (CBSI) introduces an easier-to-discuss, less shameful narrative (storyline) about the dramatic rise of toxic behavior, gaslighting, coercion, abuse, and violence in our homes, along with a captivating and more appealing paradigm (model):

– The new narrative: ‘Household Harm’ is a new, “we-can-do-something-about-it” sounding term, meant to break the wall of silence surrounding domestic violence, promote meaningful public discussions, and take collaborative actions.

– The new paradigm: Launching campaigns with creative Artwork, Music, and Technology to have a more profound impact on a wider, more outspoken, and diverse audience; women and men, who can and will disrupt this unacceptable trend.

The “Do You Want It Bad?” Campaign – Work of Art

The above image is by UK artist Maria Lopes (see marialopes.net). It is our first artwork selection. It boldly depicts Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), the most common and deadly form of ‘Household Harm’, which is why it serves as the Caged Birds Sing Inc’s first campaign banner.

Lockdown-fueled IPV is best known as “The Shadow Pandemic” and CBSI commends, supports, and dedicates a section of this site to promote the meaningful work of the global organization, UN Women, who named it.

This first campaign’s artistic and technological emphasis is on Intimate Partner Violence, the darkest side of this taboo subject. This is not meant to dilute or be contrary to the new ‘Household Harm’ narrative, in general, which sounds somewhat lighter and easier to disclose. This overarching term is designed to cover the whole range of terrible behavioral topics including Toxic Behavior, Gaslighting, Coercive Control, Domestic Abuse, and Domestic Violence, which are destroying so many of our homes in the aftermath of Covid-19 restrictions.

The First Campaign Musical Work

“Do You Want It Bad?” / “Nailed Down Caged Bird”

Male: “Come and take it slow; you’re goin’ to lose control. I want to treat you nice; you better be thinking twice. When you keep It low, I want to show you love. When I hear it’s gone, I’m gonna to take you down! Do You Want It Bad? Do You Want It Bad? You’re gonna get it real bad! Wooo hooo hooo… Hahaha… I will never stop until you say…

All Females: “No!” Female: “Oh Yeah? One day I’ll float like a butterfly sting like a bee a Nailed Down Caged Bird with clipped wings I sing.

(Male: “You used to want it bad!”)

But now he screams abuse; need help from heroes like “The Greatest” and Maya Angelou. They help me bear this sadomasochistic fool, hold my tongue as he curses lame punishing rules. I know the holy man preaches that it elevates my soul, But he screams so loud – like he’s sitting on a flaming Pole. Oooh yeah, oooh yeah. The “Four score and seven years ago…” said it right. To have our liberty sometimes we need a bloody fight. So soon there’ll be a reckoning to end this stupid questioning… Oh yeah? I’ll just say goodnight.”

Male: “Going to take you down; better make no sound. Don’t try to run, when I’m taking over you! Why are you pointing at me? I’m where you want to be. No hiding fears, I’m going to make you scream now!

Females: “No! No! No!”

Male: “Do You Want It Bad? Do You Want It Bad? You’re gonna get it real bad!”

Female: “Hmmmm… I strategize about a potent remedy; wait my moment for the perfect opportunity.”

“9-1-1… what is your emergency?”

Female: Please save me from this insanity!

So now I’ll float like a butterfly, sting you like a bee, ‘til you’re the Nailed Down Caged Bird and I will finally be free! Yessss!”

Copyright 2021 Used by permission from ASK7 International division of ASK Entertainment.

The edgy nature of our ‘Household Harm’ Campaign could catch on and help:

1) Inspire, Encourage, and Empower Victims to Seek Help, 2) Motivate Their Underequipped Communities to better provide appropriate support services and solutions, and 3) Become an Agent of Social Change by destigmatizing the subject that currently sees this as someone else’s horrible problem, 4) Develop Enthusiasm and Participation of Women and Men that can form a larger, more diverse, and highly-dynamic audience.

The First Campaign Song:

“Do You Want It Bad?”- A new Pop Song helps Spotlight The Sharp Rise in post-lockdown ‘Household Harm’

A socially conscious Pop/Rap song, “Do You Want It Bad?”, features LA singer/songwriter Han Soloman, portraying a coercive male predator, who sings and screams demeaning and threatening rants at his intimate partner. Next, an anonymous female victim raps a cleverly defiant response to this dangerous form of intimidation called Coercive Control. Subtitled “Nailed Down Caged Bird”, the lyrics are spoken by the abused woman who senses danger and realizes she is becoming a victim of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), the most common form of household harm that accounts for an astonishing 15% of all violent crime.

Inspired by Maya Angelou’s iconic poem, “Caged Bird“, she raps, using famous quotes from two more of her heroes, Mohammed Ali and Abraham Lincoln, as she justifies taking action and formulates a safe and effective strategy to escape the peril. By taking action, she serves as an example to us all.

A Stuart Kaplan co-wrote the song, produced the record, co-founded Caged Bird Sings Inc., and currently acts as the Campaign Spokesperson, to promote awareness and encourage victims of emotional and physical domestic abuse to courageously step forward to get help.

“Do You Want It Bad?” is a way to cross-popularize and de-stigmatize the taboo subject of the sharp rise in abuse and violence between intimate partners and help sound the alarm about this under-reported and suppressed subject.

Kaplan states: “My initial goal was to compose realistic lyrics that accurately and poetically portray the thoughts and actions of a woman watching her sexual relations turn into Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). I researched the subject and discovered what UN Women calls the ‘Shadow Pandemic’ – referring to the alarming rise in domestic violence against women and girls from the stress and isolation we all experienced during and since Covid-19 restrictions.

After producing this track, I realized that the song will help spread awareness, and vice versa.  I then asked myself “Is this marketing idea just a clever way to cross-promote our Pop/Rap record, “Do You Want It Bad?” with the deadly-serious topic of Domestic Violence? Or, is this social injustice a meaningful cause that I want to wholeheartedly pursue as a career? With the encouragement, support, and participation of my life partner, Rebecca, we started compiling a knowledge base, a library of scientific research, expert articles, meaningful statistics, news stories, and workable solutions. We were appalled by the status quo in our culture, where fear of discovery perpetuates psychological and physical abuse and prevails over a healthy public dialogue that could lead to problem-solving innovations. We then formed, financed, and launched Caged Birds Sing Inc, as a 501(c)(3) non-profit, to sound the alarm to the public, encourage victims to step forward, and help their underequipped communities to better serve them. 

Our Board has accepted a Sponsorship Agreement regarding the use and sublicensing of “Do You Want It Bad?” as the name of the first campaign, and to receive potential record revenues as donations. Then came the idea to establish this as CBSI’s compelling paradigm, and select other works of art, musical submissions, and innovative tech under similar agreements for future campaigns.

Next, we developed an easier-to-digest narrative: Post-Lockdown ‘Household Harm’, to more openly discuss and better address these problems. So welcome to Caged Birds Sing Inc, and please… search your souls, as we did. Then decide if you can and will help us spread the new narrative and paradigm intended to destigmatize this scary subject, too often swept under the rug, and help alleviate some of the suffering in our homes.“

A Stuart Kaplan

Contact our Founder/Spokesperson at [email protected]

Imagine living in fear before taking action. This photo is used to depict the isolation and anxiety experienced during and since the Covid-19 lockdowns and the fear of ‘Household Harm’ that largely affects 15 to 49-year-old women. This condition is too often swept under the rug. Now it must be recognized, discussed, and addressed.

The First Campaign Technology

CBSI strongly recommends using innovative tech, like this campaign’s featured emergency alert and tracking devices and free downloadable apps, for the added safety of friends and family, in case the reported or suspected Household Harm gets worse.

First Campaign’s Most Valued Tech Selection is an Emergency Locating Alarm and App by ADT. Other brands are available.

Thought Provoking Points about this campaign:

• The Worsening Situation – Much of the lockdown abuse that is surfacing now, only started within the past year or so. One scholarly research paper from 2020, makes the case for early intervention to stem the rising tide of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), and is appropriately called “From Taboo to routine”, which is vividly described in the ‘Do You Want It Bad?’ Campaign lyrics. (See Dheensa, S., Halliwell, G., Daw, J. et al. “From Taboo to routine”: a qualitative evaluation of a hospital-based advocacy intervention for domestic violence and abuse. BMC Health Serv Res 20, 129 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-020-4924-1).
• A plethora of research will be presented on this site.  For example, see 5. New Method to Gather More Accurate Domestic Violence Statistics: A New Internet Search Algorithm Shows up to 8x More Lockdown-Related Incidents than London Police Reports
• As awareness of the new ‘Household Harm’ narrative emerges, assuming our first PR campaign gets attention, we hope that “Do You Want It Bad?”, can become a call to action for victims of Household Harm to realize their intolerable plight is worsening and following the Female Rapper’s proactive lead. Its message may help push them to step forward and get help from dedicated healthcare professionals and law enforcement agents, who are willing and able to act when evidence of a sexual assault is presented to them.
• This is only the first title of the initial CBSI campaign. We intend to use and promote many other compelling works of art, creative and appealing musical submissions in all genres, and innovative technologies submitted, to become an ongoing, artistic entertainment-based information and solutions conduit to supply the fresh energy we need to openly discuss and address ‘Household Harm’ in a lasting narrative.
• All Campaigns will attempt to Widely Publicize a More Hopeful and Optimistic Perspective about the alarming rise in Post-Lockdown Household Harm: Including Toxic Behavior, Gaslighting, Coercive Control, In-Home Abuse, and Domestic Violence, and Encourage Victims to Seek Help.
• Of prime importance in using interesting and informative PR campaigns, is to achieve our main objective: to reach a mass audience of hurting individuals, and help their underequipped communities, who request assistance, provide workable therapies and solutions focused on prevention, early intervention, and faster emergency assistance.

“Do You Want It Bad?” is only the first question to ask.  If your answer is like the anonymous female rapper’s response, “NO!”,  it begs other questions:

• A Central Follow-on Question Emerges: How can we allow ourselves, or others we live with, to be disrespected, mistreated, and emotionally and/or even physically harmed without seeking help to restore normalcy and peace in our homes?
• The complex answer lies in the cultural stigma of fear of reprisals and our reputations, and the shame that gives us pause. This simplified answer is unacceptable and addressable. In the meanwhile, it only perpetuates Household Harm, perhaps until it is too late.

One critical component of Post-Lockdown Household Harm is now known globally as the ‘Shadow Pandemic’: a term coined by UN Women to describe the surge in Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). It is the most common and widespread Household Harm problem that continues to rise since Covid-19 began. The aftermath of this historic global event, like the plagues that follow many other natural and man-made disasters, has set off a tsunami wave of violence that continues to engulf women and girls. The sudden exacerbation of this age-old, devastating, and unconscionable custom is a key part in the fight against gender inequality that pervades most cultures, ethnicities, and societies for centuries, but this dark side is usually swept under the rug. The Do You Want It Bad? campaign is being launched by Caged Birds Sing Incorporated, a New Jersey-based 501c3 charitable organization, to help publicize neglected subjects affecting victims of Toxic Behavior, Coercive Control, Household Abuse, and Domestic Violence, and provide support to their under-served communities (on request), to implement solutions to help stem the tide and reverse the global trend of this unacceptable and dangerous behavior. Prevention and early intervention are essential, and should the song become a hit, it should have a widespread positive impact in this regard.

Art, Music, and Technology can help us all better empathize with, and try to protect those in harm’s way.  In this way, we can adopt a new paradigm to more easily break down the barriers of fear and shame that isolate us.

Employing a new narrative, based on these universal languages, will inspire courage and empower victims to step forward sooner, rather than later. This approach is designed to inspire debate and launch an urgent message:

To hesitate in discussing, recognizing, and reporting this well-hidden, nightmarish reality can further allow out-of-control Household Harm activities to rise further, and reach a desperate point of no return when it becomes the norm.

In Summary:

Together, we can all participate:

a) Shine a light on this dark subject by commenting on, and freely discussing a variety of meaningful artistic perspectives to destigmatize the pain that so many of us are suddenly and unexpectedly experiencing.

b) set aside traditional obstacles and thinking: become a means to More Easily Spread the Word: forwarding social media postings, re-Tweeting sensational quotes from interviews on TV, Radio, and news articles and editorials. On Instagram, try making AND POSTING CBSI’s campaign songs in the background, while you make your feelings known, and use a word-of-mouth grassroots approach to discuss what you see and complain about this social injustice.

c) break down the barriers of fear and shame we detect in ourselves and others, in order to develop and deploy effective arguments, countermeasures, and solutions.

Household Harm in the News:

It has been a long time coming, but an unpleasant subject, too often swept under the rug, is now out in the open in three sensational news stories:

1. Gabby Petito‘s overt abuse and sadistic murder

2. The televised Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard trial and verdict, and

3. The abuse and attempted domestic homicide of his grandmother, preceded the Uvalde, Texas school shooter’s rampage.

All three of these cases may have been prevented if the underlying ‘Household Harm’ was reported and professionally addressed.

NOTE: Regrettably, in each sensational, highly publicized case, little or no attention was paid to the underlying issue: Household Harm. These lost opportunities cannot continue and we must raise the alarm with a unified voice!

The upwards trend in Intimate Partner Abuse is called by UN Women the “Shadow Pandemic” and our non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization will launch a landmark initiative designed to both Solicit and Support victims in their communities. These two critical steps in combination are designed to help stem the rising tide of Household Harm in these uncertain times. Abuse and violence are alarmingly on the rise in our homes, due to the recent isolation and stress of Covid-19 lockdown protocols and restrictions. Caged Birds Sing Inc’s Post Pandemic ‘Household Harm’ public awareness campaign will be the first attempt at a landmark initiative: one step in changing the narrative addressing abuse problems in our afflicted households, mostly with no pre-pandemic conflicts.

How to get involved:

If the message herein stirs you, text, email, post, and tweet about it. For Charities: This Song and Additional Instrumental Sections are Available for Royalty Free Licensing to All Non-Profit Charities. They Can Add Individualized Photos, Videos, Written Messages, etc., for Publicity, Events, Fundraising, etc., and the approved charity can keep any revenue their licensed use generates. Video compilation assistance can be provided when requested. Send email requests for more details to [email protected]. To reach us, see the Contact Form in the Menu above, or email: [email protected].