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The Legal Battle to End AI Abuse – An Interview with Jess Asato MP
The Legal Battle to End AI Abuse – An Interview with Jess Asato MP

Jess Asato, MP for Lowestoft, announced in June she was taking Elon Musk’s company xAI to court. In January, Jess Asato discovered someone had used the generative AI tool Grok to create deepfake images of her in a bikini without her consent. This was after the MP had criticised the spread of deepfake pornography online and it was calculated to degrade and humiliate her. Susan Galloway spoke to Jess about the legal case, as well as her wider campaigning to protect women and girls in the UK from online harm.

Photograph credit: Jessica Redmond-Withey Asato ©House of Commons/Laurie Noble

BlogMICHELLE KERWINViolence Against Women, Sexual Exploitation Industries, Government Policy
The Dangerous Normalisation of Sexual Entitlement
The Dangerous Normalisation of Sexual Entitlement

The exposure of widespread drugging and rape within intimate relationships has shattered a comforting myth: that sexual violence is primarily committed by strangers, predators lurking outside the home or a small number of ‘monsters’ unlike the rest of society. Cases such as Gisèle Pelicot forced public attention on to a far more disturbing reality: that ordinary, socially-integrated men can – and do – commit extreme violence against women, often with the support, encouragement or silent complicity of other men.

BlogMICHELLE KERWINSexual Exploitation Industries
Abolition in Action, Celebrating 10 years of the Abolition law with French Sisters
Abolition in Action, Celebrating 10 years of the Abolition law with French Sisters

If you want to understand what real change looks like in practice, this account from Paris is a powerful place to start. It brings together survivor voices, political leadership and frontline activism to show how the Equality Model can shift both law and culture, holding men accountable while supporting women to exit prostitution. More than a reflection, it is an urgent reminder that abolition is not just possible but already happening, and that the UK has much to learn from it.

BlogMICHELLE KERWINSexual Exploitation Industries
Unbuyable Debate – Some Reflections
Unbuyable Debate – Some Reflections

Written by Hannah Shead, FiLiA Women First Project Lead, this blog reflects on the Unbuyable debate that took place in Scottish Parliament and is a summary of the key issues and outcome. We call on local authorities to work with us to use our Women First audit tool. We call on policy makers to listen to the voices of survivors of the sex trade, not just those with the loudest platforms.

BlogMiz JakubovicSexual Exploitation Industries
Amplifying Women’s Voices on the Harms of Surrogacy
Amplifying Women’s Voices on the Harms of Surrogacy

FiLiA has a lengthy history in highlighting the harms of surrogacy and egg donation on women and children, and also in supporting action and activism to address this violation of women's human rights. The FiLiA Women's Assembly, a growing network of women across the UK, recently arranged a focus group in order to respond to a new consultation on surrogacy. A consultation which signalled that the threat of surrogacy law reform, with a potential relaxation in the laws which govern this exploitative practice, persists. There is, however, a powerful, grassroots movement of women in FiLiA Women's Assembly mobilising resistance.

Blog, StatementsMiz JakubovicSexual Exploitation Industries, Reproductive Rights, Government Policy
X is Not Safe for Women
X is Not Safe for Women

Another notification on my X account. It’s porn, again. They keep sending me porn. This time it’s different. It’s my face. The woman in the image, being penetrated from behind, smiles back at me with my own face. The thing is, it’s not me. There’s a photo of it, but this scenario never happened. They’ve turned me into ‘deepfake’ porn. Over the last six weeks, my Collective Shout colleagues and I have been subjected to a sustained, intense campaign of misogynistic threats and abuse. Why? Because we successfully campaigned to get rape, incest and child sexual abuse games off a few popular gaming platforms.

BlogFiLiASexual Exploitation Industries
Urgent Concern: L’Oréal’s Collaboration with Pornography Industry
Urgent Concern: L’Oréal’s Collaboration with Pornography Industry

L’Oréal’s Urban Decay brand has appointed Ari Kytsya, an adult content creator on OnlyFans, as a brand ambassador, in a campaign heavily promoted to teenage audiences. We are deeply concerned that this partnership glamorises the pornography industry, an industry proven to fuel violence against women, normalise sexual exploitation, and harm young people’s perceptions of healthy relationships.

Along with sister organisations KairosWWT, nia, Women at the Well, and CEASE, we have written to L’Oréal calling on it to distance itself from an industry that profits from the degradation of women and to uphold its own stated ethical principles.

StatementsFiLiASexual Exploitation Industries, Violence Against Women
Concerns Regarding Ofcom's 'Manosphere' Study
Concerns Regarding Ofcom's 'Manosphere' Study

FiLiA have written to Ofcom and the Guardian after the Guardian reported on Ofcom's so-called research into the ‘manosphere’ and misogyny. FiLiA have significant concerns about the impact this research could have on women and girls, and are asking Ofcom to recall it.

‘If only women’s experiences were taken as seriously as the unquestioned statements of 38 men.’


StatementsFiLiAViolence Against Women, Sexual Exploitation Industries
FiLiA Women First and FiLiA Women’s Assembly in Holyrood
FiLiA Women First and FiLiA Women’s Assembly in Holyrood

We left the day in awe of Ash and her team in pushing forward with this important bill. We will continue to support it. We know that the more we move towards positive change, the louder the voices of opponents will be. We will continue to amplify the voices of survivors and encourage as many women as possible to support this bill and bring change.

BlogFiLiASexual Exploitation Industries, Violence Against Women, Government Policy
Women First at Westminster
Women First at Westminster

When we spoke to survivors as part of our Women First interviews, they told us how important it is that women are asked about moving on from prostitution. We recognise that supporting a woman to move on is complex; there is no one-size-fits-all approach, and it is important that there is support across a range of needs: health, financial, housing, trauma. However, a fundamental starting point is actually asking a woman about moving on

StatementsFiLiAViolence Against Women, Sexual Exploitation Industries, Government Policy
FiLiA’s statement on the Bertin Review and the Government response to it
FiLiA’s statement on the Bertin Review and the Government response to it

FiLiA's detailed response to the Bertin Review published last week, in which we drew on the experiences shared by Women with direct experience of the industry, and we continue to push for them to be consulted in any further reviews. We welcome the Review and its recommendations and are reassured to see the Government recognise the urgent need to tackle the harms of pornography. However, we are clear there is no such thing as ‘safe’ pornography and more needs to be done to protect and support women and girls who are harmed by pornography.

StatementsFiLiAViolence Against Women, Sexual Exploitation Industries, Government Policy
Ten Years of Canadian Prostitution Law: Critique and Challenges in Achieving Equality
Ten Years of Canadian Prostitution Law: Critique and Challenges in Achieving Equality

The English version is followed by the French version.

La version anglaise est suivie de la version française.

This article marks the ten-year anniversary of Canada’s prostitution law reform, Bill C-36, also known as the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act. This landmark legislation was a critical step in acknowledging the harms of the prostitution system, aiming to protect women and children from sexual exploitation while reducing demand and incidence. Over the past decade, feminist groups have actively evaluated and critiqued the law’s application, identifying both its successes and areas in need of improvement. This article provides a vital opportunity to understand the ongoing efforts to combat sexual exploitation, the challenges faced in implementing laws that prioritise equality, and the importance of relentless advocacy in the fight for a society free from exploitation.

BlogFiLiAGlobal, Sexual Exploitation Industries, Violence Against Women
Women First…Prostitution as Male Violence
Women First…Prostitution as Male Violence

Here at FiLiA in the Women First team, we firmly challenge the notion of prostitution as being in any way empowering. We consider it another form of male violence. As part of the Women First project, we have interviewed sex trade survivors who collectively have over 100 years’ experience of being in the sex trade. This has included street, escort, sugar daddy and brothel work. Their experiences were all different but many of the themes were similar, namely that trauma and abuse served as a gateway into the sex trade and that it takes time and specialist support to exit and recover from the sex trade.

BlogFiLiASexual Exploitation Industries, Violence Against Women
Unions and the Labour Party for Women - Kiri Tunks
Unions and the Labour Party for Women - Kiri Tunks

Kiri Tunks is a veteran trade union and women's rights activist @‌kiritunks

This blog is based on a speech made by Kiri Tunks on behalf of the FiLiA Trade Union Project at a Labour Women’s Declaration fringe at the 2024 Labour Party Conference in Liverpool. In it, Kiri argues that women need to be at the head and the heart of the labour and trade union movement.

BlogFiLiASexual Exploitation Industries, Violence Against Women, Class Politics, Reproductive Rights
Amnesty: denying women justice, freedom, truth and dignity
Amnesty: denying women justice, freedom, truth and dignity

One wonders how the world’s largest human rights organisation, whose main claim is to ‘work to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied’ has found itself in opposition to women - some of whom have been victim to the most egregious suppression of their rights and dignity - discussing what has happened to them and why.

BlogFiLiASexual Exploitation Industries, Violence Against Women, Sex-Based Rights
Supporting Children to Understand Porn-Influenced Sexual Abuse
Supporting Children to Understand Porn-Influenced Sexual Abuse

Porn and Porn-influenced culture is shaping the way children construct sexual behaviour and relationships. In this blog I outline a number of the harms of pornography and how teachers - as well as parents/carers and other professionals who work with children - can have clear and factual conversations with children about the harms of porn-influenced sexual abuse.

BlogFiLiASexual Exploitation Industries, Violence Against Women
Reflections on the 4th World Congress for the Abolition of Prostitution
Reflections on the 4th World Congress for the Abolition of Prostitution

This piece combines the reflections of FiLiA’s Anti-Prostitution Lead Luba Fein and FiLiA’s Spokeswoman Raquel Rosario Sánchez after participating in the 4 th World Congress to Abolish Prostitution. The Congress was organised by CAP International, Canadian-based organisation La Cles, Breaking Free, the Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter and the EVA Centre. At the end of the Congress, the organisations launched the Montreal’s Call for the Abolition of Prostitution, which is signed by more than 60 organisations.

BlogFiLiAClass Politics, Global, Sexual Exploitation Industries, Violence Against Women