"Men can dress up as the men who beat, rape, abuse and murder vulnerable women and girls in the sex trade as though it is just a bit of fun or a laugh – enabled by you."

Back in July, we exposed craft and fabrics store Spotlight selling pimp costumes that trivialise male violence against women and girls in the sex trade.

The retailer has failed to respond – even after we contacted Head Office by phone and email multiple times, and even after we published the account of a sex trafficking survivor who outlined how these products normalise the sexual exploitation of women.

It appears Spotlight has made a conscious decision to continue to sell misogynistic pimp costumes in their stores.

We’ve called on our thousands of supporters around the country to boycott Spotlight until they stop selling these products.

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.

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. 

It's time to come clean

When I first heard that Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reportedly owned shares in strip clubs I knew I had to call them out. This company, with particular appeal to faith-based and ethically motivated investors - was propping up and profiting from the sale of women’s bodies as men’s sexual entertainment. 

Ad Standards continues to transmits abusive advertiser responses to complainants via case reports

Update: UN adopts General Comment on children's online rights (February 11, 2021)

The United Nations now recognises that children’s rights extend to the online realm. These rights - and the responsibilities they invoke on world governments and corporates regarding issues such as children’s online safety - are outlined in the Committee on the Rights of the Child's General Comment 25.