We exposed crafts and fabrics store Spotlight selling pimp costumes back in July. The retailer has failed to respond – even after we contacted Head Office by phone and email – and continues to sell these misogynistic products.
We wonder if Spotlight considered how women and girls who are survivors of sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation might feel about their decision to knowingly profit from a product that trivialises their abuse?
Caroline Pugh-Robert, a sex trafficking survivor and award-winning expert and speaker, weighs in below.
As a survivor of eight years of human trafficking, the concept of pimping costumes is awful.
For a survivor like myself, walking into a shop that is selling a pimp costume tells me that the depraved travesty and injustice done to me by a pimp/trafficker is of no consequence and matters not to anyone.
Normalising this exploitation of another human being (which could become one of THIER children) is astonishing. The glamourisation of this means of income is a desperately sad reflection of our society.To see these ‘costumes’, is frankly, heartbreaking.
This also harms male youth and their concepts of themselves. Do we not want [boys] to aspire to more and have better role models of more constructive and productive examples of how to be men? These costumes hurt both men and women.
As adults it behooves us to check these things immediately. It’s happening on our watch.
Spotlight has a history of promoting the sex trade. We first exposed the company more than a decade ago for selling global pornography brand Playboy merchandise. Read more here.
While Spotlight continues to profit at the expense of women and girls – including survivors of sex trafficking – we’re calling for a boycott.
Call to Action - #BoycottSpotlight
Let Spotlight know you won’t be back until they remove their pimp costumes from sale.
See also:
“Glamourising violence”: Why is Spotlight selling ‘Pimp’ costumes?
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