No more page 3, says Girls' Brigade

On the UN’s International Day of the Girl, members of The Girls’ Brigade England & Wales are backing a campaign to remove pictures of topless women from a national newspaper.

A group of 18-30s from Girls’ Brigade (GB) has sent a letter to David Dinsmore, editor of The Sun newspaper, sharing their support for the No More Page 3 Campaign.

GB’s Participation and Advocacy Co-ordinator Claire Rush says ‘We believe girls and women are uniquely created and their value and worth is not based on what they look like.

'Unfortunately that’s not the message The Sun’s Page 3 is communicating to a generation of young women in 2013. It’s time to stop the objectification of women in the media and to start celebrating women for who they are and what they’ve achieved.’

The letter has been sent in response to the results of an online survey of primarily the charity’s 18-30s members, in which 97.5 per cent of the 40 respondents said they support the national campaign to remove the topless women on Page 3 of The Sun newspaper. Using their authentic voices, the letter goes on to give examples of how Page 3 has negatively affected young women in GB, such as contributing towards low self-esteem.

In order to be a voice of hope, the group has also produced some alternative Page 3s, highlighting women they think should be celebrated for their achievements and character rather than their looks, such as human rights activist Malala Yousafzai, and these have been sent with their letter.

An extract from the letter reads, ‘Today is the UN’s International Day of the Girl; a day to celebrate the achievements of girls across the world, but also to highlight the persistent discrimination which half the world’s population endures simply because of their sex … Instead we want to see women valued for who they are; not what they look like.

'We dream of living in a society where a national newspaper, like The Sun, depicts men and women as equals and no longer feels the need to display porn on Page 3 in order to sell newspapers copies.’

Girls’ Brigade groups all over England and Wales provide rewarding, stretching and positive opportunities through which thousands of children and young people, between the ages of four and 30, grow and develop in confidence and skills in a Christian environment.