Petition to run disclaimers on scenes of gender-based violence in films

New Delhi, Nov 28 (IANS) A campaign urging the government to identify on-screen, gender-based violence in Indian cinema, and advise filmmakers to run disclaimers on such scenes, has gathered more than 50,000 signatures.

In September, women’s rights organisation Breakthrough set up a petition requesting the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Central Board of Film Certification to take action in identifying violent scenes and calling them out with warnings and disclaimers.

The organisation also issued an open letter seeking organisational and institutional support. The petition and open letter are being conducted in collaboration with change.org and ourdemocracy.in respectively.

“I’m happy that our petition on warnings and disclaimers for on-screen gender-based violence has received an overwhelmingly positive response. We strongly believe that our efforts at bringing about lasting behavioural change through means of popular culture and community-based actions will play a crucial role in ending gender-based violence,” said Sohini Bhattacharya, President and CEO, Breakthrough.