Fifty Shades Of Grey: Domestic violence campaigners demand boycott for glamorisation of sexual abuse

Activists have launched an online campaign calling for the boycott of the Fifty Shades Of Grey movie on grounds that it promotes domestic violence.

Almost 6,000 people have given their backing in the form of a Facebook like to the "50 dollars not 50 shades" initiative urging cinemagoers to donate the cost - $50 (£33) - of a movie night to charities supporting abused women.

"The money you would have spent on movie tickets and a babysitter or movie tickets, popcorn and drinks will go towards serving victims of abusive relationships like the one glamorised in the Fifty Shades series," the 50 dollars not 50 shades page reads. "Hollywood doesn't need your money; abused women do."

Advocates argue the film's main character Anastasia Steele, a young woman played by Dakota Johnson, who enters a dominance-submission sexual relationship with a businessman named Christian Grey, is a victim of abuse.

More than 3,000 people have tweeted using the hashtag #50dollarsnot50shades, discussing the campaign that is backed by activist groups including Stop Porn Culture and the National Center on Sexual Exploitation.

Numbers are still far from those enjoyed by female author EL James's erotic romance trilogy on which the book is based.

The Fifty Shades saga was translated in more than 50 languages, selling more than 100 million copies around the world.

Natalie Collins, the British domestic violence worker behind the 50 Shades is Abuse campaign launched after the novels were published, told The Independent: "A lot of the criticism of our campaign is that there's nothing wrong with BDSM – we're not saying there is.

"But people within the BDSM community are outraged by how the book portrays their lifestyle. This book romanticises a perpetrator of abuse."

The movie goes on general release on Valentine's Day.