Whenever you hear the word ‘modelling’ what comes to your mind? A dirty industry full of sexual harassment and immoralities? If this is your opinion about the industry, well, you are partially right. This is also the stand of Sara Ziff, a model in US. There is generally a prevalent doubt among aspiring young models and many people if many young models are victims of sexual harassment or not. More often than not, those who fall victims of this sexual harassment are innocent children who thought of catching fun in modelling. Cases of such ugly incidence are now on the increase as Ziff said, recounting his experience in the industry. Imagine a 16-year-old girl on her first modelling shoot in Paris being harassed! Sara Ziff herself also gave her ugly experience where she was made to snap naked on her first day of modelling in an interview with Jessica Bennett a senior writer and editor at Newsweek and The Daily Beast.
The The Global Post reports the modelling industry should be meant for artistic purposes in view to advertising a product. The industry could have been morally and economically propitious had certain measures been put in order. The essence of modelling should not be for sexual harassment as we witness today, however the intrusion of women hawkers have left a blemish on the industry. Modelling industry should be a glamour and fashion field completely free of this menace. And in reality, the industry should be an open ground for both males and females in which each gender models for each other and not customised by females only which has greatly culminated into the increase in the immoralities. Funny enough, females now model virtually for everything, even things that deal exclusively with male.
The current trend in the industry indeed calls for urgent control measures. Public awareness on this evil menace will be helpful in this; an identified problem is a problem half-solved. It is to this effect that Sara Ziff, a model in US, from the various scenes she has witnessed in the industry, launched her non- profit group, Model Alliance. According to the model, this group is meant to propagate the need for security and protection for the models within the industry especially to the children. Also, in an interview with BBC NEWS, Ziff disclosed that she saw how the modelling industry breaks child labour law, lacks financial transparency and permits sexual misconduct among people within the industry.
In another development to protect the innocent models, a legal expert Susan Scafidi in an interview with the BBC NEWS, said that the workplace needs a strong backstage privacy policy which will arrest various reported cases in which models found their half-naked photos on different website on the internet. With all these outcries, there is still all hope that the industry may soon be sanctified and free from the hands of sex hawkers.
However, while these experts are busy with the legal way to restore morality and dignity back to the industry, there should exist an online avenue for awareness of the public especially the teenagers who are the most users of the internet. Children should be careful when thinking of being models especially not now that the coast is dark. Lastly, Sara Ziff was asked in an exclusive interview if she could allow her daughter to go into the industry, she said: “No! Especially with what is going on now”