Children in the United Kingdom are being increasingly exposed to sexual imagery and their parents have limited opportunities to stop it, a report commissioned by the Home Office has warned.
The report by the TV psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos was commissioned by the Home Office as part of its strategy for tackling violence against women and girls. It says that children and young people see increasing amounts of ‘hyper-sexualised images’ in the media, and they are sold the idea they have to look ‘sexy’, leading young people to be more likely to have poor self-esteem, depression and eating disorders.
The report calls for the wholesale crackdown on images of nudity, sex and violence on television, in magazines and on bill boards. It suggests tougher regulation of sexual imagery and lads’ magazines.
Dr Papadopoulos highlighted a ‘drip drip effect’ where the ‘previously unthinkable becomes widely acceptable’ in modern society.
‘Children and young people today are not only exposed to increasing amounts of hyper-sexualised images, they are also sold the idea that they have to look 'sexy' and 'hot'. As such, they are facing pressures that children in the past simply did not have to face,’ she said.
Dr Papadopoulos said the ‘unprecedented’ rise in publication of such images encourages ‘body surveillance’ and ‘constant monitoring of personal appearance’.
‘This can result in mental and physical health issues,’ she said.
‘Lads’ mags contain a high degree of highly-sexualised images of women that blur the lines between pornography and mainstream media. The predominant message for boys is to be sexually dominant and to objectify the female body,’ she added.
In her study, Dr Papadopoulos suggested a series of initiatives including:
- Banning the sale of lads’ magazines such as Zoo and Nuts from under-15s, and restricting them to top shelves to keep them out of children's eye line.
- Forcing airbrushed and digitally altered photographs to display ratings symbols to show the extent to which the images had been changed.
- Sexist and stereotyped images of women should be banned from outdoor billboards. All outdoor advertisements to be vetted by local authorities.
- Music videos featuring sexual posing or sexually suggestive lyrics should only be broadcast after the ‘watershed’.
- Games consoles should be sold with parental controls already switched on. Purchasers must choose to ‘unlock’ the console if they wish to allow access to adult and online content.
- Escort agencies, lap-dancing clubs, massage parlours and television sex channels should be banned from advertising vacancies in job centres arguing that it promotes the ‘normalisation’ of the adult entertainment industry as a ‘viable career choice’.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson welcomed the report and said the Government would consider its 36 recommendations carefully.
However, a spokeswoman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said there were no plans to consider age-restrictions on lads’ magazines or ratings symbols for photographs.
Last week, the leader of the Conservative Party David Cameron said that the ‘excessive commercialisation and sexualisation’ of children would be halted under a Conservative government.