Take action today, Thursday 30^th November.

Last week we put out a call to action, encouraging supporters to contact the Scentre Group and Westfield leadership about Honey Birdette’s sexually exploitative advertising. We had a great response from supporters, many of whom shared their actions with us on our Facebook page. 

Westfield has responded to a few of our supporters, claiming to have no authority over the advertising their tenants display. Many others who called and emailed have had no response whatsoever.

Westfield think that we will get bored and give up. But we’re not backing down. We will continue to put the pressure on until they take meaningful action.

A wealth of research shows that regular exposure to sexually objectifying portrayals of women are directly associated with a greater support of sexist beliefs and greater tolerance of violence against women, leading both men and women to have a diminished view of women’s competence, morality and humanity. Essentially, when women are routinely objectified or reduced to things, violence against them may be more easily justified.

Given a growing awareness of the scourge of domestic violence in Australia, with an average of two women being murdered by male partners each week, Honey Birdette’s ongoing and defiant promotion of the objectification and degradation of women is staggering.

Consumers call on Westfield to exercise corporate social responsibility in National Day of Action. 

It’s been three weeks since Collective Shout supporter Kenneth Thor called on Westfield stores to stop sex shop Honey Birdette from using porn-themed advertising in shopping centres around the country. Almost 60, 000 signatures later Scentre Group, the owners of Australian and New Zealand Westfield centres, have failed to take meaningful action, claiming they have no authority over what advertising their tenants use.

On Friday the 24^th of November, Collective Shout put out a call to action, encouraging supporters to phone the Scentre Group and email Westfield AU CEO Peter Allen or the chairperson Brian Schwartz. Dozens of Collective Shout supporters shared their emails on our Facebook page:

“I understand Honey Birdette has been remarkably persistent in displaying pornographic inspired advertising in their shops which is freely seen by customers walking past and also by children…This kind of pornographic inspired advertising impacts the developing and impressionable minds of children walking past. Additionally it encourages male and female customers to believe that women are merely sex objects. This is not acceptable.

“Westfield has a duty of care to its customers, who include women, children and men, to not display highly sexualised and sexist advertising that constitutes both sexual harassment and discrimination. The frequent depiction of women as merely sexy playthings for men’s use and entertainment has real life impacts on women and girls. Westfield has an opportunity to be a leader, a champion of gender equality.”

“It’s atrocious and patronising to claim that Westfield and the Scentre group…have no power to pressure Honey Birdette to remove these images. I’m sure a store could not have images that included profanities, or violent imagery in their advertising.”

“Having done the bookkeeping for a shop in Westfield this is a total lie. They can control everything down to the light bulbs they prefer you use, trading hours, refurbishments, etc.”

Several weeks ago, I made a complaint to the Advertising Standards Board about an ad on the side of a bus featuring the website for a hardcore porn site. After waiting a few weeks for their response, during which time the ad remained in place, the ASB advised me they had already dismissed complaints for this particular advertisement. They found the image was not in breach of the code. I immediately wrote back and asked if they could re-open the discussion given the content of my complaint had not mentioned the image, but the promotion of a porn site.