Victoria’s Secret ‘culture of misogyny’ laid bare

WASHINGTON – US-based NGO, the Model Alliance, has written an open letter to John Mehas, CEO of Victoria’s Secret, calling for greater respect and protection for the models it works with. The letter comes in response to a recent New York Times investigation which, based on extensive fact-finding and interviews, found there was culture of misogyny, bullying, and harassment at the L Brands business. The Times reported repeated complaints of inappropriate conduct towards models and employees including body shaming, lewd remarks, crotch-grabbing, retaliation for rebuffing advances, unauthorised use of models’ images, and pressures to pose nude without pay for a photographer’s personal shoots.

In response to this staggering – and scarcely believable in this day and age – rap sheet, the Model Alliance has called on L Brands/Victoria’s Secret to make binding commitments to protect models and other workers from harassment by joining its Respect Program.