Ban School Uniform in Pornographic Content

We, the Little Feminist Bookclub (LFB) of the Cooper School, believe that it is crucial that school uniform being depicted in pornography is banned. The possession and publication of this repulsive content clearly aims to simulate a child.  We are calling on the Prime Minister to ban this use of the uniform designed to make us feel safe.

School uniform use in pornography, which may not be covered by existing legislation, is a clear example of material that sexualises children and young people, something described in The Times as "the casual sexualisation of children". It is explicitly designed to evoke childhood and school-age identities.

Whilst the current law prohibits the depiction of someone pretending to be under 16 in pornography (but not those 16-18) to protect all young people and to remove this grey area, we urge you to ban the use of school uniform in porn. Professor Clare McGlynn at Durham University and a leading campaigner on reform of porn laws, has stated:  “This student campaign highlights the limitations of that legislation”.

She goes on to say that viewing this content has "runied" her day, "but it is ruining the lives of young teenage girls every day. They bear the consequences of being sexualised against their will.” The Times reports that "A 2018 survey of 1,000 girls aged 14-21 by the charity Plan International found that 35 per cent had received unwanted sexual attention while in school uniform, 13 per cent when they were 12 or under, and 8 per cent had been filmed by a stranger without their consent while in a school uniform."

Children are being sexualised by the depiction of school aged identities in pornographic content. Please help to support our campaign by signing this petition. Collectively, we can achieve this goal: we can protect the current youth and those to come.