Campaigners protested at the Fifty Shades Darker premier last night saying the film glamorises grooming women for abuse.
Among the gaggle of excited women, the protestors weren’t interested in ogling Jamie Dornan but instead wanted to raise awareness of abusive behaviour that they believe is showcased in the Fifty Shades series.
Natalie Collins, who set up the ‘50 Shades is Abuse’ campaign, believes Fifty Shades Darker is not pro-women or realistic.
She said: “The story is about this woman who has never had sex before and starts to have sex multiple times a day and doesn’t get a yeast or water injection. It is ridiculous.
“What the book and author reveals is how deeply ingrained abuse as romance is in our society.
“There have been many cases where men have brought up Fifty Shades in court as an excuse for abusing their partner.”
Mrs Collins continued: “The measure of happiness doesn’t measure whether something is good or not.
“I mean Hitler was probably pretty happy with what he was doing.
“If one woman realises their partner is abusive from our protest and watching this film then that is more than enough.”
Emotional abuse victim Emma Tofi, who received the book as a present from her mother, cried herself to sleep after reading the first chapter.
She said: “I couldn’t understand why the man who had abused me had been repackaged as a billionaire and sold as the perfect man.
“I just wanted to throw this book in a hole and bury it.
“When people say this is romantic it just feels like an insult to me and what I have been through.”
A Christian and consent campaigner Christine Woolgar said: “The book and film are not about consent, not about redemption and not a fairy tale.
“The least abusive scenes in the book are the sex scenes and it is clearly not roleplay.”
Mrs Collins suggests donating money to women’s aid rather than paying money to go see the film.
If you believe you have been involved in the type of abuse raised by this protest and have questions you can call the National Domestic Abuse Helpline is 0808 2000 247.
