The apology over a maternity clothing ad featuring a pre-teen African girl followed criticism and pressure from fellow humanitarian organizations over the “erotizing” and “sexualizing” of the child model.
Plan International Finland and its parent organization, Plan International Global have issued an apology over a high-profile ad campaign involving a pregnant 12 year-old Zambian girl posing in a line of maternity clothing that was the brainchild of Finnish designer Paola Suhonen.
Despite winning accolades and awards for creative design, the campaign raised the ire fellow human rights activists, including Zimbabwe-born gender studies researcher Dr. Faith Mkwesha of the Turku Academy and the Sahwira International NGO, who condemned Plan International Finland for “erotizing and sexualizing” the child model, saying she was shocked by the campaign.
Although Plan International Finland initially refused to issue an apology, after several meeting with Dr. Mkwesha and other representatives of Sahwira International, the Finnish human rights activists backed down and apologized.
Source: Sputnik
