Criminal Justice Film

Create a film to educate hearing impaired persons about their rights and the criminal justice system!

Idea at a glance

Hearing impaired persons are sometimes vulnerable to mistreatment and negative legal judgment due to the combination of communication barriers and not fully understanding their rights.

Create a captioned film and corresponding website to empower and inform hearing impaired persons about engaging with the legal system in your particular country.

Such a film would be a valuable educational resource that addresses real needs among hearing impaired persons. Tools for visual media production are very accessible and the product can easily be made relevant to local, national and global contexts.

As you create the film, consider using a collaborative process that brings together key stakeholders from across the deaf and hearing impaired community and the criminal justice system.

Inspiration

In the early 1990s, the New Zealand Police produced a DVD with the aim of educating people who were hearing impaired to understand their rights when engaging with the criminal justice system. The film uses a visually compelling dramatization to educate the viewer about what hearing impaired persons can do to protect themselves when they feel threatened, abused or at risk.

Potential impact

This film would help hearing impaired persons access vital information about the criminal justice system in their particular country.