Conference | 11am – 4pm GMT, Saturday 11 November 2023
This conference will explore how pornography and prostitution reinforce rape culture and the entitlement and objectification that drives male sexual violence,
Life in the 2020s has become a scary place for girls and young women. Mainstream porn is becoming increasingly violent and the sexual harassment of teenage girls is on the rise. Not to mention the sexual expectations porn-soaked men have of young women.
The programme will combine commentary from experts and testimony from survivors, with a performance piece and remembrance of the many women who lost their lives to the global sexual exploitation industry.
Speakers will include Dr Gail Dines, a radical feminist who has spent more than 30 years writing about and researching the porn industry. She will explore the production and consumption of porn as a form of male violence against women; how feminist thinking on pornography has been hijacked by neo-liberals who reframe female porn performers as “sex-workers,” instead of sexual slaves; and how radical social change might come about.
Michael Sheath has worked in the field of sexual abuse for thirty five years and is involved in training police officers and others about the motives and mindset of online offenders. His talk will explain how contempt for women and children is monetised and amplified; and will draw connections between, child sexual abuse material (CSAM), rape, and adult sexual exploitation.
Anna Fisher, vice chair of Nordic Model Now! says “we are in danger of creating a huge industry picking up the pieces of violence against women and girls and not bringing about the real social and cultural change that would make such violence less prevalent. This conference will be looking at the cultural forces underlying the current epidemic of male VAWG and what we need to do to bring about lasting social and cultural change.”
Notes for editors:
1. Event details, including programme, speaker profiles and tickets are on Eventbrite. Tickets must be purchased in advance. (Tickets are not required for the live stream.)
2. Event venue: Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL.
3. The live stream will be freely available on our YouTube channel.
4. For interview and image requests, please contact: nordicmodelnow@gmail.com.
5. Nordic Model Now! was formed in 2016, and is a secular, feminist, grassroots women’s group based in the UK, campaigning for the abolition of prostitution and related practices (such as lap-dancing, pornography and surrogacy) and the introduction of the Nordic Model (aka the Equality Model) in the UK.
6. The Nordic Model approach to prostitution reduces the demand that drives sex trafficking by decriminalising all those who are prostituted and makes buying people for sex a criminal offence.
Crucially the Nordic Model also provides support services and viable exit strategies to the prostituted. The approach has been adopted in Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Canada, France, Ireland and most recently Israel.
7. See https://nordicmodelnow.org for facts, myth-busting, prostitution survivors’ testimonies, blogs, podcasts and other resources. PLEASE CREDIT THE WEBSITE.
8. There will be time for questions during the event, but you can email in advance any questions you would like the panel to consider. Please put ‘Event Question’ in the subject line, to nordicmodelnow@gmail.com.