• AFP, Wednesday, October 11, 2006 12:18 PM

Advertising that uses kids' sexuality for commercial gain is on the rise in Australia, as big retailers lend an air of respectability to "corporate pedophilia," according to recent research. More businesses are finding it acceptable to eroticize young models--increasing children's risk from sexual predators and robbing them of their childhood, the Australia Institute says. Its director, Clive Hamilton, finds it particularly troubling that the trend has entered the mainstream, and has attacked major retail chains for contributing to it.

"When family department stores show no conscience on these issues, or are inured to the effects of their behavior, the situation is very unhealthy," he says. Presenting pre-pubescent children as sexual objects conveys the message that they are ready for sex--putting them at risk from those who deal with child modeling, says the report's author, Emma Rush.

"The idea behind corporate pedophilia is that normal pedophilia is adults exploiting children for their own sexual gratification without the children's consent--children are not able to consent to sex," says Rush. "The same thing is happening with corporate pedophilia in that they're sexualizing children, again without children's consent."

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