Back in July this year Collective Shout supporter, Alice, alerted us to crafts and fabric store Spotlight selling Pimp costumes.
In a Facebook post, Alice asked:
In a world with increasing rates of sexual violence against women (and men), why is this 'Pimp Costume' being sold in your stores Spotlight?
A staggering 45-75% of those working in the sex trade (mostly women) will become the victim of violence.
Selling these costumes is glamorising a culture that exploits some of the most vulnerable women and exposes them to unimaginable trauma. It flies in the face of a culture that purports to care about violence against women.
It's 2024. Do better Spotlight.
We joined Alice in calling on Spotlight to stop selling pimp costumes that trivialise male violence against women and girls in the sex trade.
We contacted the Head Office by phone and email multiple times, published the account of a sex trafficking survivor who outlined how these products normalise the sexual exploitation of women, and called on our thousands of supporters around the country to boycott Spotlight until they stopped selling these products.
Yesterday we received a reply from Spotlight’s customer service team stating:
"We have followed up with our store network as a matter of urgency to ensure the costume has been removed from all our stores."
Your voices have been heard and thanks to YOU we are now celebrating our 20th win for the year!
We couldn’t do this without you.
See also:
“Glamourising violence”: Why is Spotlight selling ‘Pimp’ costumes?
“Heartbreaking”: Sex trafficking survivor responds to Spotlight pimp costumes
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