OBJECT launch online petition on lads’ mags and anti-sexism regulation for the media
OBJECT has launched an online petition calling on the Government to introduce anti-sexism regulation for the media which recognises lads’ mags and newspapers like The Sport as part of the pornography industry and regulates them accordingly so that – where sold – these publications are covered, placed on the top shelf and age-restricted. This is in recognition of the fact that lads’ mags and newspapers like The Sport objectify women by portraying them as sexual objects, not real people, and that the growing sexualisation of women and girls in the media promotes attitudes which underpin and legitimise gender inequality and violence against women.
Our petition urges the government to fulfil its multiple international and domestic obligations to tackle the sexual objectification of women in the media by extending anti-racial discrimination measures to include anti-sex discrimination measures, and by mainstreaming gender equality into media regulation as a crucial part of the cross-governmental violence against women strategy and a central component of ongoing work to promote gender equality.
Sign our petition at http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Lads-mags/ and circulate the link widely!
Petition closes 9th December 2009
