Statement by Dawn Hawkins, Executive Director of NCOSE
Washington, DC – Calvin Klein’s recent advertisement depicting “up-skirting” has attracted widespread criticism and yet it has refused to remove the image from its advertising campaign. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) is calling on Calvin Klein to stop normalizing and glamorizing sexual harassment.
“Once again, Calvin Klein has used a depiction of sexual harassment or assault in its advertisements,” said Dawn Hawkins, Executive Director of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. “The American fashion house has continued to stand by its most recent ad campaign, not-so-subtly entitled Erotica, despite the backlash over its glamorized depiction of an “up-skirting” victim. Up-skirting is a growing trend of sexual harassment where pictures are taken up a woman’s skirt without her knowledge, or without her consent. Not only is this activity a crime in many states like New York, New Jersey, Arizona, California and more, but it is also a disturbing breach of privacy and public trust. By normalizing and glamorizing this sexual harassment, Calvin Klein is sending a message that the experiences of real-life victims don’t matter, and that it is okay for men to treat the woman standing next to them on the metro as available pornography whenever they so choose. We are calling on Calvin Klein to not only remove this offensive ad, but also to suspend its Erotica advertisement campaign, and to issue an apology to victims of sexual harassment or assault everywhere.”
The public is encouraged to sign our Calvin Klein petition at endsexualexploitation.org/articles/ck.
