Call to Action: #BoycottSpotlight for trivialising violence against women

Spotlight fails to pull pimp costumes from stores - it's time to #BoycottSpotlight

More than a month ago, we called out crafts and fabric store Spotlight for selling pimp costumes.

Pimps control women and girls in commercial sexual exploitation, often through physical violence and abuse. They sell vulnerable women and girls to other men for paid sexual abuse and take a cut (or all) of their earnings.

While the company quietly removed the costumes from its online store, they continue sell them in stores - even during their Book Week promotion, alongside Harry Potter, Disney and Spiderman costumes. 

We contacted Spotlight's head office on the 29th of August, and followed up with an email. They have not responded. This is not an oversight – they know they are selling (and profiting from) trivialising violence against women in the sex trade, and they have failed to remove the costumes from stores. 

Spotlight has a long history of promoting the sex industry. We first exposed the company more than a decade ago for selling global pornography brand Playboy merchandise. Playboy, founded by pimp and serial rapist Hugh Hefner, not only sexually objectified and exploited women, but girls too, publishing child sexual abuse material of even pre-teen girls. In selling Playboy-branded products, Spotlight helped to mainstream the brand built on the sexual exploitation and abuse of women and girls, and the pornography industry.

Unfortunately, it seems that little has changed, and Spotlight continues to profit at the expense of vulnerable women. That's why we're calling on you to #BoycottSpotlight - and let them know why. 

Call to Action

Let Spotlight know you won’t be back until they remove their pimp costumes from sale.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Spotlightstores
Instagram: @spotlightstores
Website: spotlightstores.com/contact-us