Collective Shout is backing a Change.org petition launched today by Melbourne fashion designer, singer-songwriter and mother of five Anna Cordell, calling on the Board of Directors of global marketplace Etsy to block sellers of incest and child abuse-themed merchandise.
In her petition, Ms Cordell describes her distress at discovering products normalising and trivialising child sexual abuse on the platform where she was selling designer fashion masks. The products include child sex abuse dolls and body parts, t-shirts and temporary tattoos with slogans such as ‘Daddy’s little c*ck whore’, ‘Harder Daddy’ and ‘Daddy’s c*m dumpster’. The words “Daddy Please” are written over the bare genitals of what appears to be an underage girl.
“I was shocked and disappointed. Etsy promotes itself as a platform selling vintage, bespoke, hand-crafted wares, supporting small businesses like mine,” Ms Cordell said. “Most of the people I know there are mothers with kids selling part-time to support their families."
In the petition addressed to Etsy’s Board of Directors, Ms Cordell asks: “Why are you protecting those profiting from trivialising child sexual abuse? How can you let this happen when you say your mission is to ‘keep commerce human’?
“As the mother of five daughters, I can’t stand by and let you sell the fetishisation of girls."
Movement Director Melinda Tankard Reist said Collective Shout’s recent investigation had uncovered disturbing products including child sex abuse dolls and body parts, for example, a replica mouth of a young Asian girl sold for sexual use.
“Incest-themed products fetishise girls and suggest they really want to be sexually abused by their fathers,” Tankard Reist said.
“Etsy is perpetuating this falsehood and playing into the fantasies of predators. The company is spreading the idea that abuse is sexy and fun."
The Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation reports a massive explosion in the sharing of child sexual exploitation material.
“Etsy is contributing to the erosion of taboos which once saw children as off-limits. Why would its directors want to link their brand with child abuse?” Tankard Reist said.
“We cannot address the scourge of child abuse unless we address the wider culture which eroticises and profits from it.
”Child sex abuse and incest are not fashion symbols to be turned into products and sold for profit. They are crimes which hurt real women and girls.
“When corporates fail to prioritise child safety, they become complicit in child exploitation.”
Collective Shout calls on Etsy’s Board of Directors to exercise Corporate Social Responsibility, withdraw these sellers immediately and condemn child sexual abuse in all its forms.
The petition can be found here: http://chng.it/cyybPV9FSy
Friday 22 January 2021
Media Contacts:
Melinda Tankard Reist, Movement Director, Collective Shout: [email protected]
Anna Cordell: [email protected]
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