White Ribbon campaign launches film festival in effort to combat domestic violence

(Volunteer representatives from 29 cities present poster for the White Ribbon Film Festival in Beijing on Nov. 18. Photo: Jiang Jie/People's Daily Online)

The White Ribbon campaign announced on Nov. 18 the launch of a film festival in China. The festival will feature films dealing with issues of domestic violence. They will be screened at service stations of the China White Ribbon Volunteers Network (CWRVN) in 29 cities, ranging from major metropolises like Beijing and Shanghai to smaller cities such as Hami in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

Over 60 films have already been selected, according to Fang Gang, a noted sex researcher from Beijing Forestry University (BFU) and founder of CWRVN. The list includes some famous titles such as "Gone Girl," "White Ribbon," "Lovely Bones" and "Brokeback Mountain."

Films are an important form of media when it comes to ending domestic violence, said Peng Jiong, a deputy representative of the United Nations Population Fund to China.

“Let’s use films to break the silence,” Peng added.

Founded in 2013, CWRVN is devoted to engaging men in the fight to end domestic violence. The White Ribbon campaign was founded in Canada in 1991, after 14 women were killed by a man. The campaign was launched by a group of Canadian men, utilizing the white ribbon as a symbol of mourning, who pledged to end violence against women. The campaign has since spread to more than 60 countries, and has become the largest men’s movement to fight domestic violence.