SGPIA Professor Peter Lucas was in Park City, Utah over the weekend to celebrate the January 22 premiere of Hooligan Sparrow, a documentary that highlights a spectrum of human rights issues in China. Professor Lucas served as Creative Producer of the film alongside Director Nangfu Wang, who followed activist Ye Haiyan (also known by the name Hooligan Sparrow) and a group of colleagues as they protested the case of six elementary school girls who were sexually abused by their principal in Hainan Province. The film’s website explains the premise in more detail: “Marked as enemies of the state, the activists are under constant government surveillance and face interrogation, harassment, and imprisonment. Sparrow, who gained notoriety with her advocacy work for sex workers’ rights, continues to champion girls’ and women’s rights and arms herself with the power and reach of social media.”
One of the activists who appears in the documentary, a lawyer named Wang Yu, was one of dozens of lawyers imprisoned in China last summer for defending human rights. Professor Lucas invites the SGPIA community to take action in support of Wang Yu’s release from prison, and to become informed about other ways to advocate for human rights. Hooligan Sparrow’s website provides more information on ways to become involved, including the use of the hashtag #FreeWangYu.
