Sexist caps removed, sexualised toys and kids clothing gone, sex industry shares dumped, paedophilic Twitter accounts shut down, child sex abuse doll accounts pulled, outdoor ad rules tightened, UltraTune ads dropped, ‘Penis Pacifier’ disappeared - all because our supporters took action!
For 15 years we have fought hard to bring about our goal of a world free of sexploitation. And this year has been our biggest, with 23 victories against companies who have objectified, sexualised women and children for profit.
Your voice forced multiple companies to put community wellbeing ahead of profit margins.
We hope you feel as encouraged as we are by the wins and highlights we’ve collated below!
WINS
Sex Dolls
Following our campaign targeting NSW-based sex doll ‘influencer’ known as ‘Tradie Rod’ for his links to child sex abuse doll sellers, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube removed his accounts.
Twitter pulled 71 child sex abuse doll seller accounts, including a global influencer with almost 15,000 followers and 22,000 YouTube subscribers – and added a new tool for reporting child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
Instagram removed nine toddler sex abuse dolls accounts.
Etsy blocked search terms for child sex abuse dolls.
Shopee removed child sex abuse dolls from its platform.
Mamamia edited a pro-sex doll article, removing hyperlinks to products and adding our critical commentary as a result of our campaign.
7News quietly pulled a pro-sex doll piece from its website and scrubbed its socials of related posts after our Open Letter calling on it to do so.
UltraTune
After a decade-long campaign, UltraTune dumped sexist ‘Unexpected Situations’ ads.
Thrivent
Lutheran investment firm Thrivent dumped all their remaining strip club shares.
Goldman Sachs
Following our letter calling on it to divest their Playboy shares, major investment firm Goldman Sachs dumped 82% of its shares in the porn empire.
Etto
Skincare brand Etto Australia deleted advertising featuring a naked woman and a crocodile from their Instagram after our complaint.
SHEIN
SHEIN pulled sexualised clothing and toys – including sheer g-strings for toddlers and penis ‘squishy’ toys – after we exposed them.
Instagram
A pre-teen girl’s Instagram account was shut down following our reports. We originally discovered the girl after Instagram promoted her reel to us. She had been followed by thousands of predatory men who viewed her content and made sexualised and paedophilic comments to her.
Rydges
Rydges Hotel Gold Coast removed porn-themed ‘art’ from its men’s bathroom (visible to all passing by).
City of Stirling
Western Australia’s City of Stirling updated its outdoor advertising rules to block harmful porn-themed ads after a petition by our campaigner Lyn Swanson Kennedy.
Alcoholic brand banned
The Victorian Liquor Commission issued a banning notice for ‘Wet P*ssy’ alcoholic beverage after our complaint to Ad Standards.
Country Trucker Caps
Country Trucker Caps pulled its ‘Miners Get Vaginas’ cap after our campaign.
‘Bunnings Whorehouse’ cap
A hat with the slogan ‘Bunnings Whorehouse’ was removed from Rude Heads after we notified Bunnings how their branding was being misused. Bunnings told us this was an unauthorised use of their brand and not in line with their values.
Playboy shares dumped
Six shareholders dumped their Playboy shares after our calls to divest.
AI CSAM
Chub.ai, an AI chat generator which allows users to interact with animated characters, hosted characters associated with child exploitation including images and sexual abuse/incest narratives. After receiving our report, eSafety responded to say it had located Class 1 (illegal) material, and notified the platform which then removed it.
X (Twitter) paedo accounts
At least 23 X (formerly Twitter) child exploitation accounts were suspended after our reports to the platform. We reported around 40 users openly participating in the sexual exploitation of minors, including distributing sexualised imagery of pre-teen girls, engaging in child abuse discussions and promoting paedophilia. Some of the content featured young Australian 'models' and 'influencers', while other content - in circulation for decades - featured known victims of child exploitation. X’s inadequate reporting system prohibited us from tracking the outcome of every report.
Penis-shaped dummies
The Base Warehouse pulled ‘Dicky pacifiers’ - dummies in the shape of penises - from their store after we called them out.
Campaign Highlights
Age verification
A major focus this year was our campaign for an age verification system to help protect children from exposure to pornography. Unfortunately the Federal Government rejected eSafety’s recommendation of a pilot, putting the vested interests of the industry before the wellbeing of young people. We refused to settle for this.
We organised an open letter calling on the Federal Government to re-think its irresponsible decision, signed by 48 leading authorities in the domestic violence and child safeguarding spheres.
Among the impressive line-up of names (some pictured below) were Robert Fitzgerald AM (former Child Abuse Royal Commissioner), anti DV campaigners Jess Hill, Jon Rouse, Grace Tame, Chanel Contos, Katherine Berney (National Women's Safety Alliance), Nicole Lambert, (National Association of Services Against Sexual Violence), leading child protection advocacy groups the Australian Childhood Foundation, Bravehearts, the Daniel Morcombe Foundation and well-known parenting experts Steve Biddulph, Maggie Dent and Rebecca Sparrow.
We invited parents to share accounts of kids exposed to porn, which you can find here.
Only Fans
Lyn’s petition against the Perth OnlyFans billboard attracted more than 6000 signatures. When Ad Standards dismissed complaints against the billboard, Lyn paid for an independent review which found various flaws in their ruling.
Hardie Grant
We published an open letter to Hardie Grant Children's Publishing asking them to remove advice for minors re the sending of nudes from its new title 'Welcome to S*x’. Our ambassadors psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg and cybersafety expert Susan McLean spoke out too.
Sexpo
We called out Sexpo after its transparent attempt at rebranding.
Pornhub
More lawsuits against Pornhub! Pornhub lost their motion to dismiss a major lawsuit by nine South Carolina women whose nude spycam images were distributed globally for Pornhub’s profits. Hundreds of victims are suing across the US and Canada. We are pleased to be part of a global coalition seeing the largest dispenser of misogyny and violence called to account.
Events
MTR addressed the Commission on the Status of Women NGO Forum at the International Women’s Day Global Summit on the topic 'Violence Against Women: Does Technology Help or Hinder?'
Caitlin and Melinda featured on Women’s Declaration International in a video discussing their new books (You can find them at Spinifex Press – He Chose Porn Over Me and Sex Dolls, Robots and Woman Hating)
Caitlin spoke about our recent sex doll campaigns and wins at IWD Brisbane Meanjin – you can watch her presentation here
MTR joined other child protection representatives in a roundtable consultation at RMIT with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Sale and Sexual Exploitation of Children, Ms. Mama Fatima Singhateh, as part of her country visit to Australia to learn more on the risks facing Australian children and young people. She spoke on the negative influence of pornography, how it operated as a grooming tool, and was contributing to a rise in harmful sexual behaviours in young people.
Our Movement Director Melinda Tankard Reist and Collective Shout’s educator and youth advocate Daniel Principe engaged almost 22,000 students, staff and parents across the country this year. Young people were equipped to resist harmful cultural messages and recognise the deforming impacts of pornography. They were encouraged to clarify values, enforce boundaries and engage in social change.
Lyn joined a panel of experts for the Canadian Sexual Exploitation Summit.
Daniel Principe travelled to the US for the launch of documentary Buying Her. He was at the first six premieres and spoke at a couple of men’s workshops as part of the US tour.
Media
Our investigations of Instagram facilitating the sale of child sex abuse dolls featured in national media.
Mamamia ran a piece warning on the dangers of sex dolls modelled on the bodies of women and girls by our Campaigns Manager Caitlin Roper.
Movement Director Melinda Tankard Reist was a guest on Morning Agenda with Natarsha Belling.
Campaigner Lyn Swanson Kennedy, who spearheaded our campaign against the Perth OnlyFans billboard, was featured on 7News.
Youth Advocate and Educator Daniel Principe was featured on SBS Insight, where he spoke about Collective Shout’s engagement with young people in schools. He was also featured in news.com.au (where MTR was also quoted on the Government's failure re Age Verification).
MTR was featured on SKY News speaking on our campaign for porn age verification.
Submissions
We contributed high-level submissions to State and Federal Government inquiries, along with eSafety consultations and to the UN:
Joint submission with The Hon. Nick Goiran to WA Parliament highlighting the need to protect children from harmful hypersexualised advertising
Submission to Inquiry into the Rights of Women and Children
Technology and the sexual exploitation of women: Our submission to the UN
Our report to UN Special Rapporteur on the Sale and Sexual Exploitation of Children
Australian and global collaborations
We launched an online survey in partnership with Maggie Dent to understand the prevalence of sexual harassment in schools.
We collaborated in a joint letter to hold Reddit accountable for facilitating image-based abuse.
We partnered with the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) and thousands of grassroots advocates urging the US Attorney General to investigate OnlyFans.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Super Sexploitation Scorecard
We wrote to a number of ‘ethical’ and faith-based super funds invested in shopping centres hosting Playboy-owned s*x store Honey Birdette and asked them to divest. Based on their responses (or lack thereof) we’ve given each one a basic tick or cross on our Super Sexploitation Scorecard.
Crossed Off
We released our 2023 Crossed Off list, a blacklist of corporate offenders who objectify women and sexualise girls for profit in advertising and products – so our supporters can make informed shopping decisions.
Pledge Partners
We don't just boycott the offending companies. We also promote those companies who respect women and girls - please support them this Christmas!
As always, we thank you for your ongoing support. It’s because of our supporters that so much has been achieved this year!
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