- Conference
- 2013 National Women's Conference
- Date
- 18 October 2012
- Decision
- Carried
The recent submission by women’s groups to the Leveson inquiry highlighted the relentless sexual objectification of women and girls in the press while topics such as rape and trafficking continue to be trivialised and made into a joke and women are still being blamed for being sexually assaulted.
Actress and author Lucy Holmes is creator of the ‘No More Page 3’ campaign and petition which is calling on the Editor of The Sun newspaper to remove the semi-naked models on ’page 3’. The paper’s editor argues that page 3 is a ‘British institution’ and harmless fun. But the drip drip effect of young women being objectified and humiliated daily in Britain’s most widely read newspaper sets the cultural conditions for wider issues of sex inequality and continued violence.
Addressing the levels of sexism in the media and other British institutions is long overdue. The revelations concerning the abhorrent behaviour and conduct of Jimmy Savill and the stream of testimonies from many women working in the media and broadcasting industry today bring into sharp focus that sexism and sexual harassment is not a thing of the past or something that just happened in the 70’s. The success of the ‘No More Page 3’ campaign could be a significant catalyst for change.
We call on National Women’s Committee to continue support for and work with appropriate external women’s groups such as Object, Mumsnet, National SOG’s, National Service and UNISON’s Labour Link to:
1) Support the ‘no more page 3 campaign’.
2) Encourage wider support amongst the membership for the campaign and petition by circulating information to branches via regional women’s groups and committees
3) Work with Labour Link and lobby Minister’s to support the ‘No More Page 3 Campaign’.