Louise Nousratpour
Friday October 14, 2011
The Morning Star
Women's rights activists today stepped up campaign for tighter regulation on "sexualised and degrading" images of women in tabloids and newspapers, including a ban on The Sun's topless "Page 3 Girls."
The Turn Your Back on Page 3 campaign urged ministers today to extend the Bailey review, which tackles the commercialisation and sexualisation of children, to include a probe into the Murdoch newspaper's use of imagery.
The group said: "Page 3 symbolises the acceptance and normalisation of the sexual objectification of women and girls that pervades our daily newspapers and popular culture and therefore ultimately, symbolises and contributes to our unequal status.
"The government either values and respects the female half of humanity or it doesn't and the removal of Page 3 would be a momentous step in the right direction in proving to society that is does."
Turn Your Back On Page 3 spokeswoman Francine Hoenderkamp welcomed Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone and shadow equalities minister Harriet Harman's support and urged other MPs to get behind the campaign.
She slammed Rupert Murdoch's "abuse and manipulation of our democracy and free press and his attitude towards the representation of women in the media."
Women's rights group Object said: "With the recent Murdoch scandal, the inquiry into the culture and ethics of the press and government concern over the sexualisation of children, now is the perfect time to step up our lobbying to get rid of the Page 3 phenomena."
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