Abuse of women in sex trade “a bit of fun”: Spotlight remains silent, continues to profit from pimp costumes
"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.
Read more“Heartbreaking”: Sex trafficking survivor responds to Spotlight pimp costumes
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.
Read moreCall to Action: #BoycottSpotlight for trivialising violence against women
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.
Read more“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 moreProstitution “a form of violence against women and girls”: UN Special Rapporteur calls for abolitionist model + cites Collective Shout
Reem Alsalem, United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences has delivered her report on prostitution, examining violence against women and girls “as a form, cause and consequence of prostitution”. We welcome her findings, which condemn prostitution as a form of male violence against women and her call for a human rights abolitionist approach to the sex trade.
Ms Alsalem reviewed 300 submissions (including ours) from around 60 countries, including submissions and consultations from sex trade survivors before publishing her report. We were pleased to be cited in her final report.
In her concluding statements, she said:
Read moreI have complied with the obligations to consult widely and to listen. However, this Council has not asked me to listen only, and not listen to those that speak loudest but also to bring in my independent and impartial analysis from a human rights perspective.
Why don’t you support decriminalisation of the sex industry?
The sex trade is a form of systemic violence against vulnerable women and girls fuelled by male demand. Legitimising the sex industry through legalisation or decriminalisation communicates that men have a right to paid sexual access to women’s bodies, and that it is acceptable to make an underclass of women available for men’s sexual use.
Decriminalising pimping, brothel keeping and sex buying is a gift to those who profit from the sexual exploitation of women. It leads to an increase in sex trafficking (as more women have to be imported to meet the growing demand) and poorer conditions for the women in the industry, while emboldening buyers.
We work closely with sex trade survivors and seek to amplify their voices. These women reject the term “sex work” and describe prostitution as paid rape. We stand with survivors in calling for the Nordic/Equality model, which has been endorsed by the European Parliament as best practice for tackling trafficking and gender inequality. The Nordic model decriminalises those providing sexual services and supports them to exit the trade, while the buyers, pimps and exploiters are criminalised. “Without men’s demand for and use of women and girls for sexual exploitation, the global prostitution industry would not be able to flourish and expand.” - Gunilla Ekberg
See also:
Collective Shout Submission, Review into Decriminalisation of Sex Work
‘Prostitution Narratives: Stories of Survival in the Sex Trade’, ed Caroline Norma & Melinda Tankard Reist, Spinifex Press, 2016.
"I was trafficked because men buy sex": survivor Caroline shares her experience for human trafficking awareness month
Guest post by Caroline Pugh-Roberts
Read moreMedia Release: Collective Shout welcomes new National Plan to end Violence Against Women and Children - urges specific action to address pornography as a driver
The National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-32 was released today.
Read more