A hard-hitting Barnardo's television advert that shows a young woman being hit and taking drugs will continue to screen despite attracting nearly 500 complaints, it was announced.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said it understood some viewers were distressed by the ad for the children's charity but ruled that most would believe the issue of child abuse justified the "shocking" images.
The ad begins by showing two teenagers fighting outside a shop before cutting to a teenage girl behind a prison door and then her at a kitchen table where a man hits her hard on the back of the head and calls her a "worthless little cow".
She is then shown at her classroom desk tearfully telling the teacher "I don't know what it says" before she appears in a deserted setting having just taken drugs.
The last four scenes are repeated at increasing speed, emphasising the sound of the slap and the girl's sobs.
Text on the screen reads: "For thousands of children in the UK the story will keep repeating itself, until someone stops it."
The ASA investigated the ad after receiving 477 complaints, but said more viewers had complained since then. Most said the scenes of violence and drug-taking were distressing to watch and challenged whether they caused serious or widespread offence.
The ASA noted that the ads screened after 9pm and that Barnardo's made efforts to schedule them away from programmes popular with children.
It said: "We acknowledged that the distress experienced by victims of abuse who had seen the ads was clearly deeply felt.
"We noted, however, that the scene involving the violence, although shocking to watch, showed the violence as unacceptable behaviour and did not encourage or condone it. While we sympathised deeply with the distress caused, we concluded that the aim of the ads justified the use of such strong imagery."
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