Sexualisation of Children Harms

Rev. Fred Nile ED., L.Th, M.L.C.
Parliamentary Leader - Christian Democratic Party

April 2009

The Rev Fred Nile MLC, Leader of the Christian Democratic Party, has stated that the sexualisation of young girls harms them both physically and psychologically. Rev Nile made the comments whilst giving a speech in support of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Amendment (Children's Employment) Bill 2009, in the NSW Parliament.

“The Christian Democratic Party supports the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Amendment (Children's Employment) Bill 2009. The bill will amend section 221 of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 to extend the applicability of the children's employment chapter to children between the ages of 15 and 16 years who take part in modelling. It will also amend section 223 of the Act to increase the maximum penalty for employment of a child in contravention of the Act from 10 penalty units to 100 penalty units. As other members have indicated, our society has widespread concern about the effects of forcing children into early modelling situations and about children who may be abused in the fashion industry or by photographers, as seen in the controversy over the Bill Henson photographs of nude 13-year-old children he used as models”, said Rev Fred Nile.

“The Act requires all employers of still photography, entertainment, modelling or other exhibition work to hold an employer's authority and to comply with the mandatory Code of Practice in the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection—Child Employment) Regulation 2005. It is good to have those requirements, but one must ask how strictly will they be enforced by inspectors ensuring that the requirements are carried out as stipulated by the legislation? The code of practice contains specific requirements on matters such as working hours, travel time, amenities, supervision and the effect of work on the child's education. However, I believe another factor should be the welfare of the child both morally and physically in how they are employed, used or even abused.

This bill will give models between the ages of 15 and 16 years the benefit of the safeguards the legislation already provides for models below the age of 15. Perhaps we should monitor the situation to determine whether 16 years is the correct cut-off age or whether it should be up to 18 years of age. Because of widespread concern about the sexualisation of children, particularly young girls, a number of inquiries have been held. In fact, the British Government has just announced an investigation into the sexualisation of young girls. The review forms part of Together We Can and the Violence against Women and Girls Strategy, and will investigate also whether aggressive attitudes towards women in videos and song lyrics are linked to sexual abuse. British Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, said:

..while some might see items such as Playboy T-shirts designed for 11-year-olds on sale in major chain stores as a "bit of a laugh," many parents were concerned that their daughters were being encouraged to appear sexually available at an inappropriately young age.

The American Psychological Association released an important report in March 2008 on the sexualisation of girls. The document details the detrimental impact of sexualisation of girls' development from childhood to pre-adolescence, and investigated the effects of sexualised media on girls. According to the study, "media images of sexy girls and adults posing as adolescents 'sexualises' girls, harming them both physically and psychologically". The association's report defines "sexualisation" as "when a person's value comes only from his or her sexual appeal or behaviour, sexuality is inappropriately imposed, or a person is sexually objectified". The report indicated:

..girls' contact with sexual imagery from an early age has a devastating effect on mental and physical health. Possible ongoing effects identified by the research include: low self-esteem, poor academic performance, depression, and eating disorders.

The report also warns that sexualisation may contribute to the prevalence of paedophilia. It went on to state the causes of sexualisation:

The proliferation of sexualised imagery in television, toys, on the internet and particularly in advertising poses a major risk to girls and young adolescents because "their sense of self is still being formed.

One member of the American Psychological Association Task Force, Dr Eileen Zurbriggen, said:

The consequences of the sexualization of girls in media today are very real and are likely to be a negative influence on girls' healthy development.

As a society, we need to replace all these sexualized images with ones showing girls in positive settings.

Bravehearts, an organisation set up by Hetty Johnston, obviously has been making its major issue protecting children from sexual abuse. It presented a very good submission in April 2008 to the Senate Standing Committee on Environment, Communications and the Arts. The submission repeated some of the results of the American Psychological Association's study. Bravehearts submission of 18 April 2008 covered a number of these issues. It stated:

For a long time the adage "sex sells" has been common place in the marketing industry. While this is an accepted strategy in terms of targeting adults, there has been a disturbing trend that has seen this message move over to marketing to children. Over a number of years there has been an increased sexualisation of children in the media and an increased acceptance of this as the norm by those in the industry. There appears to be a desensitisation that has occurred, with those working in the media normalising the sexual imagery ever present in various aspects of our popular and media culture.

It also expressed in the submission concern about advertising and stated:

There are two major issues here: the use of young girls to model adult clothes and the sexualisation of young girls in advertising children's products.

There has been an explosion of sexualisation of children in advertising with the fashion industry using younger and younger models to sell clothes to adult women. [In April 2008] the Australian Fashion Week organisers backed down after complaints that 14 year old girl was to be the face of the event. They have since revised their industry policy to ensure that all models participating in the event must be at least 16 years of age. Employing children to model adult clothes and portraying these young girls as women is irresponsible.

Bravehearts also was critical about the use of clothing and cosmetics and stated:

Children tend to want to be more mature and sophisticated and when they see their idols dressing in a certain way they want to mimic them. In response to this, clothing companies are marketing clearly adult clothing to children: bra and underwear sets, g-string underwear, provocative clothing and clothing with inappropriate, sexually suggestive slogans.

While makeup has been available for young girls for many years, there has been a shift in the marketing and presentation of these products. No longer seen as "fun" accessories, these items are being marketed to children to make them glamorous and sexy.

I commend the Bravehearts submission to all members of the House and I am able to provided copies if they wish to read them. I am pleased to support the bill because it is a small step in the right direction. The Government should monitor very carefully the implementation of the bill to ascertain what further legislation is needed to protect children in our society”, Rev Nile stated.

For Media Interviews contact: Rev Fred Nile (02) 9230 2478 or 0418 619 731
Research Assistant: David Copeland (02) 9230 2978

Christian Democratic Party, GPO Box 141, Sydney NSW 2001.

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