“Glamourising violence”: Why is Spotlight selling ‘Pimp’ costumes?
Collective Shout supporter Alice alerted us to crafts and fabric store Spotlight 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.
Read moreMedia Release: More sexual abuse, harassment and violence against women if Government refuses to act on age verification
Emergency national cabinet meeting tomorrow must address porn as a driver of violence
In response to a rising tide of violence against women – including a spate of recent homicides - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said we need to “change culture” if we are to prevent this violence. He has called an emergency meeting of State Premiers and Chief Ministers tomorrow to respond to the crisis.
Read more“I’ll choke you”: How porn culture promotes violence against women and children
It’s no secret that mainstream porn is dominated by male violence and aggression against women. A report by the French equality watchdog last year found that as much as 90% of porn features verbal, physical and sexual violence towards women, and a significant amount constituted torture.
As porn has become more mainstream, its messages – that violence against women is sexy, and women desire and enjoy violence and abuse – have seeped into mainstream popular culture. Strangulation or ‘sexual choking’*, an act of violence that has been popularised in porn, has become so normalised it is referenced and promoted in advertising, TV, social media, popular songs and on clothing – even for babies.
Read moreMade by men: How the term "AI generated" invisiblises sex offenders
Identifying perpetrators and victims of AI abuse
From the increasing popularity of ‘deepnude’ apps that virtually undress women, to the creation of degrading and pornographic content of women (including Taylor Swift), we’re starting to get a glimpse of how AI can be used to sexually exploit and abuse women and children online.
Read moreMedia Release: Youth sexual assault crisis on the rise - Federal Government must release eSafety’s report on porn and age verification to protect children
eSafety delivered its report on a roadmap for age verification to protect children from online wagering and pornography to the Federal Government in March.
But stakeholders do not know what eSafety has recommended or what action the Government will take, as there has been no response.
Read moreSubmission to Inquiry into the Rights of Women and Children
Porn + prostitution harms to women and children exacerbated by pandemic, war
In our December 2022 submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade inquiry, we highlighted the issues of
- sexual violence against women and children
- the role of the sex industry in normalising and perpetuating this violence
- the particular impact on migrant women within the sex industry in Australia and on pornography as a driver of violence against women