Thousands Demand E!’s “Fashion Police” Stop Mocking Commercial Sexual Exploitation Victims

by Amanda Kloer · 2011-08-23 08:59:00 UTC
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More than 1,000 people from around the world have joined a popular new campaign on Change.org calling on E! Entertainment’s hit show Fashion Police to end a segment titled “Starlet or Streetwalker”, which mocks and derides women and girls in the commercial sex industry.

“Starlet or Streetwalker” features a panel of celebrities who laugh at photos of scantily clad women and girls as they try to guess whether they are Hollywood stars or prostituted women.

Girls Education and Mentoring Services, a survivor led organization dedicated to ending commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking, launched the campaign on Change.org after founder Rachel Lloyd, a survivor of commercial sexual exploitation and advocate for sexually exploited youth, saw the “Starlet or Streetwalker” segment.

“I watched with growing discomfort as I realized that these women - poor women, desperate women, drug-addicted women, women under the control of a pimp, women who are victims of violence and exploitation - were being used to highlight wealthy celebrities' poor fashion choices,” said Rachel Lloyd, Founder and Executive Director of Girls Education and Mentoring Services. “We’re asking E! to stop further mocking and stigmatizing women and girls in the commercial sex industry.”

News of the campaign’s growing success is likely to increase pressure on E!. Prior to the campaign’s launch, Rachel Lloyd published an op-ed in the Huffington Post criticizing Fashion Police’s degrading segment and recruited hundreds of supporters on Change.org, the world’s fastest growing platform for social change.

“What this group has accomplished in just a few days is remarkable,” said Change.org Director of Organizing Amanda Kloer. “In just a few days they have gained national media exposure and successfully recruited more than 1,000 supporters. Change.org is about empowering anyone, anywhere to demand action on the issues that matter to them, and it has been an honor to provide a platform for this campaign.”

Photo credit: david_shankbone

Amanda Kloer is a Change.org Editor and has been a full-time abolitionist in several capacities for seven years. Follow her on Twitter @endhumantraffic

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