Domestic violence videos ahead of International Women’s Day to kick-start human rights debate on ‘Speaker’s Corner Online’

Amnesty International is to put its hard-hitting domestic violence videos on the online video debate site Friction.tv.

Appearing on the newly-launched “Amnesty” channel in time for International Women’s Day on 8 March, they will feature Star Trek actor Patrick Stewart speaking about domestic violence in his family background, and Patrick and TV star Joanna Lumley doing voice-overs for an innovative “talking knuckles” domestic violence animation film. Other Amnesty-content videos are set to follow.

Amnesty International, the world’s biggest human rights organisation - with a quarter of million supporters in the UK, and 2.2 million worldwide - has already launched numerous campaigns and human rights initiatives through online social media.

In October it launched “Unsubscribe”, an online campaign to unite and activate public opinion against terrorism and against human rights abuses in the “war on terror”.

Set up a year ago, Friction.tv has been described as “Speakers Corner Online”, enabling anyone to debate issues without censorship or editing. The site allows users to upload their own “viewpoint” videos as well as respond to those already on the site. Debates range from current affairs, sport and gossip.

Amnesty International UK Web and New Media Manager Sara Ashton said:

“Friction.tv is exactly the sort of place that Amnesty wants to be these days.

"It's where people are spending their time so that's where we want to be, engaging with them and talking about human rights. Debate is at the heart of what we do, and with the increasing availability of broadband, video is a great way for us to reach new audiences and inspire them to get involved in human rights."

In the Amnesty International-Friction.tv link-up, video content supplied by the human rights organisation will appear on a specific branded channel for distribution to Friction.tv’s 200,000-strong online audience.

Friction.tv. Chief Executive Officer Omer Shaikh said: We are delighted to provide Amnesty International with a dedicated channel on Friction.tv. The first step in causing any positive change in society is to talk about the issues at hand, raise awareness of them and so throw them open for debate. Social Media is proving to be an increasingly powerful force in changing people’s attitudes and making them stand up for what they believe in. Amnesty International on Friction.tv is a perfect example of this.

“The new Amnesty International channel on Friction.tv will give our growing community of users the opportunity to debate human rights in an informed, compelling and entertaining way. This is a great link-up and one we’re proud of.”