Precious 'helping' abuse awareness

By Jonathan Blake
Newsbeat US Reporter Gabourey Sidibe plays the illiterate 16-year-old Claireece Precious Jones

It is one girl's desperate story that is having a big impact in cinemas across the US and around the world.

Domestic violence organisations say the film Precious, based on the novel Push by Sapphire, is helping to raise awareness of the issue.

The movie tells the story of a teenager growing up in Harlem, New York, who is raped by her father and abused by her mother.

"This was, we felt, a very realistic portrayal of the things that are happening every single day to women in this country" said Michelle McKeon, chief executive of the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

"There have been people who have said, 'That looks like my aunt, or that looks like my mother, or I remember that from when I was younger', and if that gives them the opportunity to talk about it then the film has done a great service" she added.

'Strong reaction'

Backed by Oprah Winfrey, Precious has received several awards since its debut at the Sundance and Cannes film festivals in 2009.

Director Lee Daniels said audiences had reacted strongly to the film and felt the need to talk about their own experiences after seeing it.

"Guaranteed, every screening that I have, there are three or four people that come up to me to tell me that they're abused" he said.

"I would say every other one or two showings someone comes up and says, 'I'm abusing my daughter or I'm abusing my son.'"

He said he hopes the film will have a positive effect on people who have suffered or committed abuse in the home.

"That they feel free to talk about the fact that they are abusing their babies is the first step to recovery," he said.

Mo'Nique has won numerous awards for her performance as Mary, the mother, and dedicated her Golden Globe for best supporting actress in a drama to victims of abuse.

"I celebrate this award with all the Preciouses, with all the Marys," she said. "I celebrate this award with every person that's ever been touched. It's now time to tell. And it's OK."

Celebrity backing

Precious gained exposure when Oprah Winfrey offered to help promote the film and became a producer.

She said the story encouraged her to get involved and help director Lee Daniels.

Singer Mariah Carey plays Ms Weiss in the film, a New York social worker

She said: "I felt so strongly about getting as many people in the seats, as many eyes on this film as possible, that I called up Lee and said, 'Tell me what I can do.'"

In the UK, the charity ChildLine has also highlighted the film as a realistic portrayal of domestic violence.

ChildLine president Esther Rantzen said: "This film conveys the hopelessness of a child or young person who is being sexually abused, physically abused, and emotionally destroyed within her own family.

"People sometimes find it difficult to understand why children and young people are imprisoned in their own suffering and cannot ask for help. This film explains it."

The charity has revealed that an average of five girls a day called them last year about sexual abuse by their father.

The film has been a box office success in the US, had largely positive reviews and is tipped for more awards success at the Baftas in February and the Oscars in March.

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire opens in UK cinemas on Friday 29 January.