Sexualisation and sexual objectification of men and women is so damaging to mental health that I beleive this social process is responsible for more deaths than the experience of poverty.

The next time you see a 10-year old face used to promote anti-ageing products make a mental note not to support that corporation.
The trouble is that there are so many doing it and getting away with it. We all sit and browse through the tabloids at the doctor's office but how many of us physically boycott the product.
We need to send a clear message to advertisers and their agencies and that is Stop insulting our collective intelligence.
Reverse the psychology, if they need a little kid to promote their product it can't be worth much.

Thanks Emma. How has it come to this? Whatever corporations, business leaders and advertising agencies what to do, they just do it. No argument from the Howard government because all that matters is trade, greed, competition, profit... I'm a psychtherapist and I can confirm that the sexualisation of children (especially girls) is having very negative effects on children. Let them be children and let them enjoy their childhood dressing up games - without having their innocent play exploited for profit.

bettymc

One of the biggest issues with the sexualisation of children is the amount of sex our children are exposed to in the media and on television. Everything seems to focus on sex or violence. Sexualising of young children in marketing supports this as does the amount of toys that promote violence.

Young children today have been so desensitised to sex that they do not know what is right or wrong any more. They have been groomed to focus on sex from a very young age. The do not understand that sex is a private matter between consenting adults. Sex is seen as entertainment and it shouldn't be shown to the children in this way at such a young age as our children learn by example and what they see they copy.

Our children are not being given the opportunity to develop intellectually, emotionally or psychologically before they are pushed towards sex. This also puts our children in a very vulnerable position with regard to being abused as they don’t realize and understand that what is being done to them is wrong. No wonder so many young people are unhappy and confused.

WORLD CHILD SEX and SLAVE CAPITAL TRADE SALES are worth more than the TRILLION sales made by Microsoft (apparently).

Children from Asia and European countries throughout the world are calling on their governments to take a far tougher stand against human-trafficking, including much stiffer penalties for those who enslave and abuse young people.

In terms of discrimination - gender abuse and general civic wellbeing.. female chidren are hardest hit. According to China's Ministry of Health (2004), at least 250,000 people commit suicide a year in China.

That's a rate of around 20-30 per 10,000, compared with a worldwide average of 14.

Recorded, women in China have the highest suicide rate, with most coming from poor families. At least 2 million women attempt suicide, which has become the biggest cause of death for those between 15 and 35 years of age.

http://www.rfa.org/english/news/social/2004/10/12/china_mentalhealth/

In Burma alone "thousands of young girls are recruited from rural Burmese villages to work in the sex industry in neighboring Thailand. They are held for years in debt bondage in illegal Thai brothels, they suffer extreme abuse by pimps, clients, and the police."

See Film: SACRIFICE - http://www.brunofilms.com/sacrifice.html

Australia we must wake up to ourselves and stop our navel grazing.

Make the CONNECTION: FOOD - OIL - SEX - POWER CARTELS

NAME THEM ALL - this is the truth behind our economic problems.

We MUST combate human trafficing through our individual "self governance, and through using our pro-active knowledge.

http://www.humantrafficking.org/updates/656

In terms of Australia, we have come a long way but we are no where near the mark. Bullying, Womens Wages, Media + Sports... CHILD ABUSE is a NATIONAL + GLOBAL issue.

We need equity and we need respect.

WE NEED TO GET UP AND PUT A STOP TO THIS!

http://www.miacat.com/
.

We could probably start by not giving a State funeral to a man who was charged with numerous child sex offences. It seems incredible that our left wing media can dispose of a former Governor General (of whom I am no fan) for his failure to deal with others in sexual abuse while being silent about the recently deceased Labour member receiving a State funeral. Mr Howard should step in or be ashamed.

Mr Howard did step in.

What audience is this article aimed at?

Historians would probably argue that "child exploitation" as we currently see it, did not have measurable 'impact on mental health'....

To me..the MOST important issue is:

"Is it inherrently EVIL.. and IMMORAL.. to sexualize children and use them for the sexual gratification of adults..

OR..

is it purely culturally and historically relative" ?

As far as I am concerned..it is IMMORAL and EVIL.. to sexually exploit and use children.. whether it is in the guise of
-marriage or
-advertizing or
-religion.

UNLESS we can come up with a definitive answer to this crucial question.. those of us who wish to defend children from the predatorial and exploitative use by adults will simply end up wringing our hands.. and bemoaning the unchallengable fact of increased child abuse.

WE NEED A REASON to say it is 'bad'..........

If we try to argue that it is 'bad'... psychologists and anthropologists and historians will tell us it is culturally relative, because in most places, and in the past.. children (mainly female) were passed around from family to family.. Old men taking child wives.. etc..and it is difficult to point to identifiable 'ill effects'...yet I absolutely guarantee that most of us would say "Its as plain as the nose on our faces" that there is something terribly WRONG with little children having their youth stolen by old people and 'chanelled' into marriages and sexual abuse when they are so young that they are simply 'programmed' into believing it is 'ok'.

In my view.. common sense plus an appreciation of the dignity of each human being based on the pattern of Scripture (Old and New Testaments, with the New being the final and complete word) will provide an adequate basis for declaring the sexualization, sexual abuse, sexual commodification of children as EVIL, and IMMORAL and that such conclusions are IMMUNE to some new 'research' which may seek to show otherwise.

Two major things have changed in the last generation. Firstly with better nutrition and medicine children are maturing physically 1-2 years earlier (while mentally they are the same).

Secondly, the media access they have ensures that they are a lot more aware of the world outside. Whilst the media should show restraint, they are driven to supply what their customers the "tweens" are looking for.

As the parents of two tweens, we were not happy with sex informaton coming from peers and the media, so with the school and books etc we tried to make sure that our kids had enough of the "right" information, to form the right attitude with regard to sex.

While we think we have done the right thing the proof will only come later. I would be most grateful for other parents experiences in this regard.

ok, thats all good stuff. I know other cultures have a major problem with this but as far as Australiaerned