PM enlists retailers to act against "pornification" of children
06 June 2011 09:49
David Cameron has said he will summon retailers, along with advertisers, broadcasters, magazine editors, video games and music industry chiefs and regulators for a summit in October to discuss progress in a campaign against what campaigners have dubbed the "pornification" of children.
The measure is among the recommendations of a Government-commissioned review of the sexualisation and commercialisation of young people carried out by Mothers' Union chief executive Reg Bailey.
In response to demands for restrictions on inappropriate children's clothing - including lace lingerie and push-up bras - the British Retail Consortium has also launched new guidelines. These advise stores that "fabrics and cut should provide for modesty" while skirt length and neckline "need careful consideration" and underwear ranges need "the utmost care in design".
Nine stores - Asda, Debenhams, Argos, John Lewis, Next, Marks & Spencer, Peacocks, Sainsbury's and Tesco - have signed up with others being urged to participate.
Justine Roberts, who co-founded the Mumsnet website, welcomed the review and new guidelines for retailers.
"This is not about prudishness or hankering after some rose-tinted picture of childhood," she said.
"It's about millions of parents - and many who aren't parents - knowing in their bones that there is something wrong with a society that tries to sell seven-year-old girls four-inch heels, or t-shirts emblazoned with 'Future Porn Star'.
"As parents we're told - often by our own kids - that we've just got to live with it, that the world has changed.
"But we don't have to and our 'Let Girls be Girls' campaign, the Bailey review and the new retail code of conduct show the power ordinary people can wield when they speak out forcefully on forums like Mumsnet against the pornification of our culture."
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