London, April 2 : Keira Knightley has starred in a new campaign against domestic abuse to help increase awareness for the Women''s Aid charity.

The two-minute film, directed by Joe Wright, shows the Pirates of the Caribbean star returning home after a day's shoot but only to be beaten by her boyfriend.

The advertisement, entitled `CUT', further depicts the actress getting kicked in the stomach and hit in the face while her hair is pulled later.

It ends with a question asking: ''Isn''t it time someone called cut?''

"I wanted to take part in this advert for Women''s Aid because while domestic violence exists in every section of society, we rarely hear about it," the Telegraph quoted Keira as saying.

"We may not think we know someone who has experienced domestic violence, but this does not mean that it is not happening.

"Domestic violence affects one in four women at some point in their lifetime and kills two women every week," she added.

Meanwhile, Nicola Harwin, chief executive of Women''s Aid, is crossing her fingers that the ad would help shed more light on the plight of women suffering abuse.

She said: "We are so grateful to both Joe Wright and Keira Knightley for donating their time to make this public awareness advert.

"We hope the Women''s Aid campaign will both increase public awareness of domestic violence, letting abused women and their families and friends know that there is help out there, and also raise vital funds for Women''s Aid, to help us to continue in our work." (ANI)