Online shops urged: Take down ads ‘hypersexualizing’ women

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) yesterday expressed alarm over the sale of items showing women in hypersexualized positions in different online platforms in the country.

The CHR expressed alarm over a report of the non-government organization Women’s Legal and Human Rights Bureau, which monitored the sale of hypersexualized t-shirts on Facebook, Lazada and Shopee.

“The t-shirts depict women in lewd and hypersexualized positions, normalize the sexual objectification of women and are clearly sexist and misogynistic,” the CHR’s Gender Equality and Human Rights Center said.

“The posts and engagements on Facebook and other shopping outlets also reveal that the target market of the shirts are men and that many reports for obscenity were already made against the Facebook page to no avail,” it added.

CHR said the open posting, display and sale of these shirts and other products are blatant disregard of laws protecting women from discrimination, violence and all forms of sexual harassment.

It noted that despite provisions of the Magna Carta of Women on non-derogatory portrayal of women and the provisions of the Safe Spaces Act penalizing sexism and misogyny, businesses are still able to openly operate and earn from the sexual objectification of women.

It urged online shopping platforms Lazada and Shopee, as well as Facebook where the same items are being marketed, to immediately take down posts and accounts of seller.

“We call on businesses and social media platforms to be our partners in protecting women’s human rights and not allow their platforms to be sites of violence and sexual harassment,” said the CHR.

“We also call on the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center to trace and identify the account holders, and for the Department of Trade and Industry to investigate the registration of these businesses and the possible violations they may have committed,” it added.

The commission also called on the public to continue to be vigilant and be the commission’s partners in calling out and holding into account sexist, misogynistic remarks and acts.

“Let us work together to make all spaces safe and empowering,” it added.