Petition to ban 365 Days on Netflix gets 70,000 signatures after Duffy's open letter

A petition to remove a Polish Netflix film accused of glamourising abuse has garnered over 70,000 signatures.

365 Days, which is based on an erotic novel by Blanka Lipińska, follows a Warsaw woman who is kidnapped and held captive for a year by a mafia boss who is obsessed with her.

After her escape attempts fail, she enters into a romantic and sexual relationship with her kidnapper.

The Change.org petition’s author, fitness influencer Mikayla Zazon, wrote: “Netflix clearly stands on the side of the abusers by having a movie that glorifies, romanticizes, and condones sexual assault trending on their top 10 recommended movies to watch around the globe.

“As a social media public figure and a victim of these crimes, I am outraged and heartbroken that this movie shows up on teens' 'watch next' recommendation.”

She continued: “By taking down this movie on Netflix, we can protect sexual violence in adolescent women and adult women. And we can prevent boys from seeing such horrific behaviour as permission to sexual assault and rape women.”

The petition comes follows singer-songwriter Duffy’s open letter to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings expressing her concern over the film.

Duffy, who recently revealed her horrifying experience of kidnap and rape, called the streaming service “irresponsible” for broadcasting the film.

"I don’t want to be in this position to have to write to you, but the virtue of my suffering obliges me to do so, because of a violent experience that I endured of the kind that you have chosen to present as ‘adult erotica,’” she wrote.

"365 Days glamorises the brutal reality of sex trafficking, kidnapping and rape. This should not be anyone’s idea of entertainment, nor should it be described as such, or be commercialised in this manner.

"It grieves me that Netflix provides a platform for such ‘cinema,' that eroticises kidnapping and distorts sexual violence and trafficking as a 'sexy' movie," she continued.

“[I] ask you to right this wrong; to commit the resources of Netflix, and the skills of its talented film-makers, to producing and broadcasting content that portrays the truth of the harsh and desperate reality of what 365 Days has sought to turn into a work of casual entertainment."

A spokesperson for Netflix told The Guardian they believe in offering members “more choice and control over their Netflix viewing experience.”

They did not comment on the criticism pointed at 365 Days, but continued: “Members can choose what they do and do not want to watch by setting maturity filters at a profile level and removing specific titles to protect from content they feel is too mature."