'We're looking at a future of far more widespread abuse against women and girls if we don't de-radicalise men now'

By James*, Collective Shout Supporter, UK

Radicalisation: the process whereby an individual comes to adopt increasingly radical views in opposition to the accepted norms.

“...long and elegant like the great man himself...sits perfectly naked...Get some Ron into you.”

*Content warning* This post may be distressing. 

Earlier this month Rose Kalemba, who had previously exposed Pornhub for hosting footage of her rape as a fourteen-year-old and their unwillingness to remove the footage for six months, exposed Pornhub hosting videos of her friend being raped as a toddler. Despite being flagged, Pornhub allowed the child rape videos to remain for hours, during which time they accumulated hundreds of views. We wrote about it here.

The high cost of Pornhub's 'free' offer

After almost half a million people have signed a petition to shut down Pornhub over cases of sex trafficking, rape and child sexual abuse, new reports of the porn site hosting videos of a toddler being abused have emerged.

Rose Kalemba, who had previously exposed Pornhub for hosting footage of her rape as a fourteen-year-old followed by a period of six months where she begged the site to remove the videos, has appealed to Pornhub again to remove videos documenting the abuse of her friend, who was a toddler at the time. 

Back in 2013, after a supporter alerted us to rapper Tyler, The Creator's lyrics glorifying rape and extreme violence against women, we called on Immigration to revoke his visa for his upcoming tour. While we were not successful at this time, Tyler, The Creator's abuse of one of our young activists at his Sydney concert led to New Zealand barring him from entry the following year. In 2015, prior to his Australian tour, we again called on Immigration to act, and Tyler, The Creator posted a tweet claiming he had been banned from Australia, tagging our Operations Manager Coralie Alison and citing her as being responsible. As a result, Coralie was inundated with abuse and violent threats from Tyler, The Creator's followers.

Last month, Tyler, The Creator returned to Australia to perform again. Collective Shout Campaigns Manager Caitlin Roper provided comment in the Daily Telegraph.

Tyler The Creator finishes tour in Australia despite lyrics rapping about raping and murdering women

Despite being stopped from entering Australia in 2015, rapper Tyler, The Creator has just completed a successful three-show tour across the country.

US rapper Tyler Okonma, 28, was targeted by women’s rights group Collective Shout in 2015 ahead of a proposed Australian tour for his violent misogynistic lyrics, which include graphic descriptions of rape and murder.

Some of his most disturbing lyrics include: “I just wanna drag your lifeless body to the forest and fornicate with it,” “Rape a pregnant bitch and tell my friends I had a threesome,” “You call this shit rape but I think that rape’s fun,” and “Punches to the stomach where that bastard kid supposed to be.”

Tyler, The Creator just finished an Australian tour.

Collective Shout campaigns manager Caitlin Roper said the group was “disappointed, but unfortunately not surprised” Okonma was permitted to tour the country.

“It says that women and girls don’t matter very much.”

***

Many musicians regret their early music and even strike certain songs from their discography if they no longer align with their adult beliefs.

For example, Paramore removed their song Misery Business from their live shows despite it being the group’s most popular song.

However Okonma has never made any statement separating himself from his controversial lyrics.

“A lot of Tyler the Creator’s fans claim he has evolved as an artist, that he has changed, but we haven’t seen any evidence of this,” Ms Roper said.

“If there is genuine self-reflection and change, I think this is generally accompanied by some kind of acknowledgment or action.

“Tyler the Creator has built his career on the degradation of women, and made a lot of money in the process.”

Read more at the Daily Telegraph.

See also:

Collective Shout responds to common arguments from Tyler the Creator fans

Tyler, The Creator returns. But has true change really occurred?

We don't need to #FreeTylertheCreator- he's not a victim

This Wicked Campervan was spotted in Brisbane last week with Victorian licence plates:

(pic: Boycott Wicked Campers Facebook)

Under existing laws, there is nothing to prevent this. Even when Ad Standards upholds complaints- as it has against Wicked Campers more than eighty times - they have no authority to enforce rulings, and there are no penalties for repeat offenders.

Collective Shout is calling for uniform laws across the country to deregister Wicked Campers if it does not abide Ad Standards rulings. Tasmania, ACT and Queensland have already passed these laws, but we still need MPs to enact similar legislation in Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, where a private members bill by MP Katrine Hilydard has received overwhelming support.

Just last month, the federal Minister for Women Kelly O’Dwyer called for a national response against Wicked Campers’ “sexist, misogynist and offensive slogans”, writing to state and territory ministers seeking their urgent support.

Also in March, festival promoter Adrian Buckley announced that Wicked Campers would be banned from Wollombi music festival. We welcomed this news, and are calling on other music festivals to do the same.

Splendour in the grass
Rainbow Serpent
Woodford
Big Pineapple

See also:

Petition: Drive Wicked Campers off the Road

Wollombi bans Wicked Campers. Others must do the same

Federal Minister for Women Kelly O'Dwyer calls for national response to Wicked Campers

WARNING: Graphic content

Grassroots campaigning movement Collective Shout has exposed online marketplace Amazon selling multiple books promoting rape and sexual torture of women and children.

This comes days after the company was forced to remove pedophile-themed baby onesies with the slogans “Daddy’s little f**k toy” and “I just look illegal”.

Campaigns manager Caitlin Roper said that the titles available for purchase promoted rape, gang rape and rape of girls by their fathers.

“These books depict victims, including children, as sexually enticing and therefore deserving of rape,” she said.

“They emphasise the victims’ vulnerability, their unwillingness and their pleas, treating their resistance as something erotic and sexy.

“Amazon’s despicable promotion of rape and child sexual abuse as sexy or somehow warranted undermines global efforts to address an epidemic of men’s sexual violence against women and children.

“It’s time for Amazon to start exercising basic corporate social responsibility and to wake up to the real-world impacts of the rape books they are profiting from.”

Collective Shout has been campaigning against Amazon since 2010, when the company sold ‘The Pedophile’s Guide to Love & Pleasure: A Child-Lover’s Code of Conduct’, an instruction manual advising pedophiles on committing sexual offences against children without being caught. Amazon initially refused to remove the book, but after a global protest and threats of boycott the book was removed from sale.

Since then, Collective Shout has documented Amazon’s ongoing sale of sexually exploitative products, including sexy nurse costumes for female toddlers and child sex dolls.

Members of Collective Shout reached out to Amazon executives on Twitter, including founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, but have not received a response.

Media contact
Caitlin Roper 
Caitlin@collectiveshout.org

4 April 2019