Podcast appearances and mentions of Melinda Tankard Reist

Haley McNamara and Dani Pinter sit down with Melinda Tankard Reist, Co-Founder and Movement Director of Collective Shout, for a discussion around the recent successful campaign to remove a sexually violent game called “No Mercy” from Steam. Melinda describes how the game allows players to sexually assault your family members and rewards you for doing so. In less than a week, this campaign garnered over 70,000 signatures and over 3,000 emails sent to the CEO of Valve to remove this game. Despite the backlash and threats, Melinda and the team at Collective Shout continue their work to protect women and children from objectification and sexualization. Melinda is an author, speaker, media commentator and campaigner. She is best known for her work addressing sexualization, objectification, harms of pornography, sexual exploitation, trafficking and violence against women. Melinda is author/editor of seven books (no. 8 on boundary-setting for girls forthcoming 2025). She co-founded Collective Shout for a world free of sexploitation 15 years ago, and is Movement Director. Melinda is an Ambassador for World Vision Australia, Compassion Australia, Hagar NZ and the youth mentoring body the Raise Foundation. She is also Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Culture and Ethics, Notre Dame University, Sydney and named in the Who's Who of Australian Women and the World Who's Who of Women. In 2024 she was the recipient of the ‘Global Impact Award' presented at the Coalition to End Sexual Exploitation [CESE] Global Summit in Washington DC. 

Trigger Warning*Trigger Warning: The following episode contains descriptions of disturbing porn themes and discussions of child sexual abuse. Listener discretion is advised Melinda Tankard Reist is an author, speaker, and the Movement Director of Collective Shout. She's spent many years as a leading advocate against the sexual exploitation of girls and women. In this episode, she shares the impact of porn culture on youth, relationships, and society. She unpacks her latest research on the alarming rise of sexual harassment in schools, particularly toward teachers. She also addresses how boys are being conditioned to see girls as objects through exposure to violent pornography.Episode Resources Article: Porn Impacts Student Sexual Harassment in Schools—Here's HowVideo: This SANE Nurse Explains How Pornography Inspires Sexual AssaultMelinda Tankard-Reist's WebsiteCollective ShoutSexual Harassment of Teachers Report

In this episode of Unhooked, I sit down with Melinda Tankard Reist, a journalist and author of the book 'He Chose Porn Over Me.' We explore the devastating effects of pornography on women, relationships, and society. Melinda shares insights from her book on how women are affected by their partners' porn addiction, including emotional and physical health impacts. Our discussion also highlights the broader societal consequences, such as an increase in sexual harassment in schools and a rise in youth sex offenders. Despite the overwhelming challenges, Melinda calls for collective action to address these issues and support affected individuals. Expect to learn: - The emotional and physical impacts of porn addiction on women and girls - what is causing the increase in sexual harassment and harmful behaviors in schoolsHow the global porn industry perpetuates misogyny and racism - The challenges in regulating and addressing the porn industry's influence - Steps you can take to combat the negative effects of pornography on young women and young menand much more.. .Links to Connect with Melinda:www.melindatankardreist.com; Instagram @meltankardreist; X: @meltankardreist; FB: https:facebook.com/MelindaTankardReist...............Interested in joining the Unhooked Academy Group Program? Sign up for a free call:https://www.unhookedacademy.com/Looking for a self-led journey with the Unhooked Online Course:https://jeremylipkowitz.mykajabi.com/unhookedInterested in personal  1:1 coaching? Click here: https://www.jeremylipkowitz.com/introConnect with me on Social:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeremylipkowitz/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JeremyLipkowitz--------------Shownotes00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome00:13 Discussing 'He Chose Porn Over Me'01:55 Impact of Pornography on Relationships04:14 Societal Consequences of Pornography06:41 Sexual Harassment in Schools18:17 Global Porn Industry and Racism19:40 Challenges in Addressing Pornography22:37 Positive Changes and Hope34:25 Advice for Men in Relationships41:25 Final Thoughts and Contact Information

We’re talking to Collective Shout about their annual name and shame of retailers and platforms that exploit girls and women.Your support sends the gospel to every corner of Australia through broadcast, online and print media: https://vision.org.au/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sexual Harrassment of TeachersYour support sends the gospel to every corner of Australia through broadcast, online and print media: https://vision.org.au/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you know the average age of first exposure to pornography is 11 years? We are at a critical juncture in our nation's history as the pervasive influence of pornography distorts views on consent, sexual behaviour, healthy relationships, and aggression.This episode brings an urgent & compelling discussion with leading experts. Melinda Tankard Reist, acclaimed author, journalist, and co-founder of Collective Shout, dedicated to combating the sexualisation of girls & women. Joining her is Maha Melhem, Director of Melhem Legal & Consulting, with extensive experience in policy reform for child safety playing a pivotal role in the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.Tune in as we illuminate how early exposure to pornography shapes harmful sexual behaviours in young people. These insights & advocacy are crucial for understanding & addressing this pressing issue. Don't miss this vital 2 part conversation!

Weaponised AIYour support sends the gospel to every corner of Australia through broadcast, online and print media: https://vision.org.au/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This podcast episode features an in-depth conversation with Melinda Tankard Reist, a journalist and activist renowned for her work against the pornography industry, its harmful effects on society, and her grassroots organization Collective Shout.The discussion covers a wide range of topics, including the normalization and dangers of pornography, its role in objectifying women and perpetuating violence, its disturbing influence on younger generations, and insights from her book 'He Chose Porn Over Me,' which addresses the pain of discovering a partner's porn addiction.Connect with Melinda Tankard Reist belowInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/meltankardreist/Website: https://melindatankardreist.com/Collective Shout Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collective.shout/Collective Shout Website: https://www.collectiveshout.org/Australian orders for 'He Chose Porn Over Me': https://melindatankardreist.com/he-chose-prn-over-me/Non-Australian orders for 'He Chose Porn Over Me':  https://www.amazon.com/He-Chose-Porn-over-Me-ebook/dp/B0B5FMSJC7Follow along on social media: IG: https://www.instagram.com/wtfdoidonowpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wtfdoidonowpodcast?lang=en Website: https://www.wtfdoidonow.com/ **Please subscribe and rate the show so more girls can find this resource and know they aren't alone in their healing journey!

Australia's national cabinet met this week to try to curb the domestic violence crisis. And women's advocates have renewed their call to restrict the access children and teens have to online pornography.

Pornography Age Verification BillHelp Vision to keep 'Connecting Faith to Life': https://vision.org.au/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Join the eminent Daisy Cousens as she delves into the latest in culture, politics and business on ADH TV.  Watch ‘The Daisy Cousens Show' Friday 7PM AEDT live on ADH TV. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re talking to Open Doors about worldwide persecution of Christians and how the Bible is banned in 52 nations. Help Vision to keep 'Connecting Faith to Life': https://vision.org.au/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sex Dolls, Robots and Woman Hating: The Case for Resistance by Caitlin Roper  discussed by Caitlin Roper and Melinda Tankard Reist Sex Dolls, Robots and Woman Hating: The Case for Resistance — Spinifex Press   Radical feminist perspectives - This series of webinars is run by radical feminists whose voices have been cancelled or silenced in universities, schools and the media. Frustrated that we cannot share what we know in these places, we are offering this online series of webinars here. Enjoy! For a searchable list of all videos click here: RFP - Books for website link.xlsx (womensdeclaration.com) If you have not already registered for this series, register in advance for this webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_sttBp6aIR-ymhmwkVlO0JA After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

We’re talking to Collective Shout about campaigns ahead of International Women’s Day. Help Vision to keep 'Connecting Faith to Life': https://vision.org.au/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Melinda Tankard Reist ( www.melindatankardreist.com) is an author, speaker, media commentator, blogger and advocate for young people. She is best known for her work addressing sexualisation, objectification, harms of pornography, sexual exploitation, trafficking and violence against women. Melinda is author/editor of seven books including Getting Real: Challenging the Sexualisation of Girls (Spinifex Press, 2009), Big Porn Inc: Exposing the harms of the global pornography industry (Spinifex Press, 2011, co-edited with Dr Abigail Bray) and Prostitution Narratives: Stories of survival in the sex trade (Spinifex Press, co-edited with Dr Caroline Norma).  An opinion writer, Melinda has appeared on ABC's Q&A and The Gruen Sessions as well as many other TV and radio programs. Melinda is co-founder of the grassroots campaigning movement, Collective Shout: for a world free of sexploitation, exposing corporations, advertisers and marketers who objectify women and sexualise girls to sell products and services. An Ambassador for World Vision Australia, Compassion Australia, HagarNZ and the youth mentoring body the Raise Foundation, Melinda is also Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Culture and Ethics, Notre Dame University, Sydney. Melinda is named in the Who's Who of Australian Women and the World Who's Who of Women. Her most recent book is He Chose Porn Over Me.

Australian author Melinda Tankard Reist joins us for a confronting conversation every parent needs to listen to and why we need urgent regulations to protect our most vulnerable.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’re talking to Collective Shout about their corporate offender blacklist of companies that objectify women and sexualise girls. Help Vision to keep 'Connecting Faith to Life': https://vision.org.au/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Amateur Activist is joined by author, media commentator, blogger, and advocate for women and girls - Melinda Tankard Reist. Melinda is best known for her work addressing sexualisation, objectification, the harms of pornography, sexual exploitation, trafficking and violence against women. She recently authored her 7th book, He Chose P*rn Over Me. She is also one of the founders of the grassroots campaigning movement Collective Shout: for a world free of sexploitation. Collective Shout names and shames corporations, advertisers, and marketers who objectify women and sexualise girls to sell products & services. In this episode, Melinda and Isabela talk about the effects of pornography on young people, the lie that the porn industry sells to young women in particular about sexual liberation and empowerment, and why we as amateur activists should care about this issue at all. This episode does discuss sensitive material regarding the effects of porn on relationships and the effect is has on children as young as Year 4 who are effected by the porn they watch and the pornified culture they are growing up in. You can connect with Melinda on Instagram, here, or head to her website. You can connect with and follow Collective Shout on Instagram, here, or on their website. Melinda's new book, He Chose P*rn Over Me, is available here. We are wrapping up our first season of Amateur Activist and we would love to connect with and hear from you! If you enjoy the show and episodes, could you take a moment to rate and review the podcast on your platform of choice? This helps new listeners find us. You can connect with Amateur Activist here or with Isabela here.

Henry talks with Melinda Tankard Reist, an Australian writer, speaker, blogger and media commentator. Tankard Reist describes herself as "an advocate for women and girls". This conversation was originally broadcast on 3SER's 97.7FM Casey Radio in September, 2022. It was produced by Michele Tan.

Natarsha Belling speaks to Collective Shout's Melinda Tankard Reist.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

FiLiA Spokeswoman Raquel Rosario Sánchez speaks to author and activist Melinda Tankard Reist about pornography's desensitisation of male sexuality and its traumatic effect on women and girls. Hear also about Melinda's work with children and teenagers in schools, her campaigning work with Collective Shout, and the way forward out of a culture of sexualised violence against women and girls.Melinda Tankard Reist is an author, speaker, campaigner, and advocate for women and girls. She is best known for her work addressing sexualisation, objectification, the harms of pornography, sexual exploitation, trafficking, and violence against women. She has recently been appointed Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Culture and Ethics, Notre Dame University, Sydney. She is the Founder and Movement Director of the campaigning organisation Collective Shout. She is the editor of six books including Getting Real: Challenging the Sexualisation of Girls (Spinifex Press, 2009), Big Porn Inc: Exposing the harms of the global pornography industry (Spinifex Press, 2011, co-edited with Dr Abigail Bray), Prostitution Narratives: Stories of survival in the sex trade and Broken Bonds: Surrogate mothers speak out (Spinifex Press, 2019, co-edited with Jennifer Lahl and Renate Klein).Recently, Melinda published He Chose Porn Over Me, a collection of essays written by 25 women who share their stories of broken relationships and enduring abuse by porn-obsessed male partners. He Chose Porn Over Me was launched in early August 2022 during a global event hosted by Collective Shout. The book is available from the FiLiA Bookshop and at bookstores worldwide and via its publisher Spinifex.You can learn more about Melinda's work against a culture of sexualisation and objectification of women and girls on her website.  You can learn more about the campaigning work of Collective Shout on their website. Melinda can also be found on social media such as Twitter and Instagram.

Today Collett is joined by Melinda Tankard Reist, to chat about the pornification of our culture, and the world that young girls and women alike find themselves in. Melinda's Website and BookingsCollective Shout Website Resources for Support or to Learn MoreLifeline Crisis Support 13 11 141800Respect 1800 737 732 (Page on Sexual Assault)Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800White Ribbon - Pathways to ChangeRespectful Relationships | Understanding Boys Click here to contact the Raising Teens team or ask us a Question. Collett is a psychologist, qualified teacher, speaker, and internationally published author, with 25 years' experience working in private and public schools, as well as in private practice. Visit Raising Teenagers for more resources or here for Collett's books.Support the show: https://hope1032.com.au/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ft Melinda Tankard ReistRachel sits down with Australian author, speaker, media commentator, blogger and advocate for young people, Melinda Tankard Reist. She is best known for her work addressing sexualisation, objectification, harms of pornography, sexual exploitation, trafficking and violence against women. Meanwhile, Martin and Rachel take a look back at the 'Big Conversations' season and wonder what the important topics of the future will be and how we as youth workers will need to address them. 

We're talking to Collective Shout about what to ask candidates in the election about how to protect children from online content. Help Vision to keep 'Connecting Faith to Life': https://vision.org.au/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're talking to Collective Shout about their Christmas 'blacklist' of businesses that exploit and sexualise women to sell products and services. Help Vision to keep 'Connecting Faith to Life': https://vision.org.au/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode we speak with Melinda Tankard Reist who is an author speaker & advocate for womens and girls. Melinda is best known for her work addressing sexualisation, objectification, harms of pornography, sexual exploitation, trafficking and violence against women. We discuss; - The porn industry - Commodification of sex - Ethical porn - Men & porn - Normalisation of abuse in porn - The problem with Only Fans - Corporations and sexual abuse Connect with Melinda https://melindatankardreist.com/ https://www.collectiveshout.org/ Connect with us Tune in to our live podcast recordings on instagram https://www.instagram.com/ideasdigest/ https://twitter.com/ideas_digest Email: Ideasdigest@gmail.com Find out what we really think https://ideasdigest.substack.com/ Music: Lawson Hull https://www.instagram.com/lawsonhull/

We're talking to Collective Shout about controversy over women fined for wearing bike shorts, and not the prescribed bikini bottoms. Help Vision to keep 'Connecting Faith to Life': https://vision.org.au/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For every voice decrying the evils of pornography, there's another that says it's healthy, part of our freedom of expression, “sex positive”! So, which is it? LINKS This epidoe of Undeceptions is brought to you by Zondervan's new commentary on the book of Exodus by Christopher Wright. Meet our guest, Melinda Tankard Reist, and find out more about the Collective Shout Movement that she founded. Meet our other guests, Professor William Struthers and Simon Camilleri Read more on the protest of the 70,000 Korean women who held banners shouting 'My life is not your porn' in 2018 after a spike in the number of spycams found in female bathrooms.  Read the New York Times explosive investigative report 'The Children of Pornhub', published in December 2020. In response to the NYT report, Mastercard and Visa withdrew their cooperation with Pornhub later that month.  Read Melinda Tankard Reist's book, Big Porn Inc: Exposing the Harms of the Global Porn Industry Here's the research John Dickson lists off in this episode on pornography:  A study by the Australian Research Centre in Sex Health and Society said it found that pornography enabled sexual confidence and positive community formation, especially for LGBTIQ+ people. A 2007 study published in the American Journal of Medicine found that the sex lives of 18 million men over age 20 were negatively affected due to excessive porn viewing. A recent study by the Kinsey Institute showed that people who use technology for sexting or webcamming gained a sense of emotional connection as well as sexual gratification from this contact. In a study conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, researchers discovered a significant association between reported pornography hours per week and gray matter volume in the human brain, and a drop in reactivity to sexual cues. A study published in the Archives of Sexual Behaviour looking at Norwegian use of pornography found that couples who use pornography together tended to enjoy a more permissive erotic climate. But where only one person in the couple did, men who used porn were likely to experience problems with arousal, and women who used porn were likely to have increased negative self perception.  In February 2021 in Australia, a former Sydney schoolgirl launched a petition calling for ‘sexual consent education' to be taught much earlier in schools. In this opinion piece, a high school teacher argues that 'Hardcore porn is to blame for disturbing teenage sex culture' This 'TraffickingHub' online petition to shutdown Pornhub has over 2 million signatures. Here's a [safe] link with more information on Pornhub's traffic numbers. Sexual health research stresses the ‘bonding hormones' released with sexual encounters. Check out this with Australian sex researcher, Dr Patricia Weerakoon on this subject.  C. S. Lewis, the great Oxford literary don and public advocate of Christianity, once defended the biblical approach to sex against the call in his day (the 1940s) for more sexual ‘freedom'. His insights are as relevant today as then: I know some muddleheaded Christians have talked as if Christianity thought that sex, or the body, or pleasure, were bad in themselves. But they were wrong. Christianity is almost the only one of the great religions which thoroughly approves of the body—which believes that matter is good, that God himself once took on a human body, that some kind of body is going to be given to us even in heaven and is going to be an essential part of our happiness, our beauty and our energy. Christianity has glorified marriage more than any other religion: and nearly all the greatest love poetry in the world has been produced by Christians. If anyone says that sex, in itself, is bad, Christianity contradicts him at once … There is nothing to be ashamed of in enjoying your food: there would be everything to be ashamed of if half the world made food the main interest of their lives and spent their time looking at pictures of food and dribbling and smacking their lips. I do not say that you and I are individually responsible for the present situation. Our ancestors have handed over to us organisms which are warped in this respect: and we grow up surrounded by propaganda in favour of unchastity. There are people who want to keep our sex instinct inflamed in order to make money out of us. Because, of course, a man with an obsession is a man who has very little sales-resistance. God knows our situation; He will not judge us as if we had no difficulties to overcome. (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity. HarperCollins, 1997, 81-82)

How did it come to this: the pornification of our society? Our children and youth now contend with peer sexual assault and sexual harassment at growing rates and disturbingly young ages. This week Jonathan sits down with Melinda Tankard Reist of Collective Shout for a very honest conversation about the widespread sexual dysfunction of our age and its catastrophic consequences for our children. Melinda is a co-founder and movement director of Collective Shout, a grassroots campaigns movement for a world free of sexploitation in all its forms. Melinda is author/editor of six books including Getting Real: Challenging the Sexualisation of Girls (Spinifex Press, 2009) and Big Porn Inc: Exposing the harms of the global pornography industry (Spinifex Press, 2011, co-edited with Dr Abigail Bray). Melinda has appeared on ABC's Q&A and The Gruen Sessions and many other TV and radio programs. She is an Ambassador for World Vision Australia, Compassion Australia, Hagar NZ and the youth mentoring body the Raise Foundation. She is also Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Culture and Ethics, Notre Dame University, Sydney. Melinda's recent article on ABC Religion & Ethics is called "Why “consent” doesn't stand a chance against porn culture."

Melinda Tankard Reist, director of the women's empowerment group Collective Shout, says programmes to educate young men about sexual consent will fail unless the government addresses the corrosive effects of pornography.

Topics discussed in this episode: Melinda shares about the story of Chanel Contost Sexist culture grooms sexist boys The porn industry is corrosive to connection Consent education is setting the bar far too low We must address the conditioning role of pornography How can we teach consent in our own home? Learn more about Melinda Tankard Reist & Collective ShoutPurchase How to Talk To Your Kids About Pornography & Good Pictures Bad PicturesMelinda's essay mentioned in the podcastPurchase The Do's & Don'ts of Discipline or find it in our Happy Families Membership. Because a happy family doesn't just happen.Find us on Facebook at Dr Justin Coulson's Happy FamiliesEmail us your questions and comments at podcasts@happyfamilies.com.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Topics discussed in this episode: Melinda shares about the story of Chanel Contost Sexist culture grooms sexist boys The porn industry is corrosive to connection Consent education is setting the bar far too low We must address the conditioning role of pornography How can we teach consent in our own home? Learn more about Melinda Tankard Reist & Collective Shout Purchase How to Talk To Your Kids About Pornography & Good Pictures Bad Pictures Melinda’s essay mentioned in the podcast Purchase The Do's & Don'ts of Discipline or find it in our Happy Families Membership. Because a happy family doesn't just happen. Find us on Facebook at Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families Email us your questions and comments at podcasts@happyfamilies.com.au.

In this episode, Kerryn Baird shares how she and her husband - former NSW Premier, Mike Baird - went from seminary in the USA to politics in Australia. Kerryn chats to Taryn about living as a Christian in the political sphere, battling alongside their eldest daughter as she faced anorexia, and her passion for championing organisations that work to uplift women and children, including Collective Shout.*   Kerryn is wife to Mike and mum to Laura, Cate and Luke. She came to faith in Jesus when she was a young teenager, while working through confirmation classes with her pastor in Perth, WA. Together with Mike, Kerryn has had many opportunities to champion causes that highlight our worth and role as image bearers of God. These include her ambassadorship for various organisations that seek to provide support and advocacy to women and children in difficult circumstances.   LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Kerryn is an ambassador for the following organisations: Collective Shout: Collective Shout is a grassroots organisation that stands against sexploitation of women and children in the media. See Tori Walker's interview with Collective Shout's co-founder, Melinda Tankard-Reist in Episode 8 of The Lydia Project. Lighthouse for the Community (Domestic Violence): Lighthouse exists to walk hand in hand with families who want to move forward from their domestic violence situation and experience. Gidget Foundation: Gidget Foundation Australia is a not for profit organisation that provides programs to support the emotional wellbeing of expectant and new parents.     SHOW SNIPPETS:   “He said to my husband, ‘I think you might need to consider politics as your ministry.'”   “God is drawing me in that direction as well.”   “On the Monday, our daughter had been diagnosed with anorexia.”    “What the porn industry says is empowerment is lies.”   “Boys are being sold a lie as well.”   “I remember thinking, I actually have to make a decision here.”   Can't see clickable links? Copy and paste this into your browser: tlpcwcw.podbean.com . . The Lydia Project: Conversations with Christian Women is a podcast co-hosted by Tori Walker and Taryn Hayes. It features informal chats with Christian women around faith, life, ministry and the ways in which God is shaping their thinking and their lives. The views of TLP guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the hosts.  

Melinda Tankard Reist founded Collective Shout ten years ago, a grassroots campaigns movement for a world free of sexploitation in all its forms. She's an author, speaker, media commentator, blogger and advocate for women and girls. She's best known for her work addressing sexualization, objectification, harms of pornography, sexual exploitation, trafficking, and violence against women.   Melinda Tankard Reist Website: https://melindatankardreist.com/Collective Shout Website: https://www.collectiveshout.org/Collective Shout Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/collectiveshoutCollective Shout Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collective.shout/   (Transcript is a guide only and may not be 100% correct.) Emily OlsenWherever there are shadows, there are people ready to kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight. This is Bleeding Daylight with your host Rodney Olsen. Rodney Olsen  I need to warn you that today’s episode of Bleeding Daylight may be confronting at times, but it focusses on issues that affect us all. They’re also issues that give each one of us opportunity to shine light into some very dark places and to make our world more compassionate with greater respect and equality for all. My guest founded Collective Shout ten years ago, a grassroots campaigns movement for a world free of sexploitation in all its forms. This is an episode that should be heard by many, especially parents. I encourage you to share it widely so that we can all take action to draw closer to the kind of world we long to see. Constant abuse and even death threats have become common occurrences for Melinda Tankard Reist. Those reactions only serve to highlight the seriousness of the topics that she raises in our society. She's an author, speaker, media commentator, blogger and advocate for women and girls. She's best known for her work addressing sexualization, objectification, harms of pornography, sexual exploitation, trafficking, and violence against women. I'm so pleased to have her joining me on bleeding daylight. Melinda, thank you so much for your time. Melinda Tankard Reist  Thanks for having me. Thanks for your interest. Rodney Olsen  I'm interested in knowing where your passion for standing against this kind of exploitation actually began. Melinda Tankard Reist  Look, it probably began in my hometown growing up in a country town in Victoria and I started to see the mistreatment of women in my community. I became a journalist from the age of 16 and began to document some of that mistreatment. One of the first pieces I ever wrote was about the opening of a women's refuge in my town for victims of violence. I also noticed that mistreatment of Indigenous women and migrant women. I was then awarded a scholarship to study journalism in the US and that I ended up traveling globally and witnessed for myself the second class status of women around the world, returned to Australia and continue to document issues affecting women and girls, that I wrote my book Getting Real: Challenging the sexualisation of girls, and that's really where this work took off. And I was asked look where's the grassroots movement against everything you've described, and that's how Collective Shout came about 10 years ago. Rodney Olsen  It's interesting that there are a number of issues that you're looking at there, that are just obvious that these are harming but I think a lot of what you call to the surface are those things that just go past us without us recognising what's going on. What are some of the themes that you think that most people don't understand are harmful to women? Melinda Tankard Reist  I'm really glad you've asked me this, Rodney, because I've always believed that I was meant to document issues that were going under the radar. I've written six books now. And I felt led I suppose to expose things that were harmful in the hope that we might wake up and do something about those things. So the epidemic of violence against women globally, if you look at female genital mutilation, bride burning, dowry deaths, if you look at trafficking in the bodies of women and girls into the global sex industry, if you will. With the fact that girls globally are more often denied education and and kept in a very controlled and submissive environment, the way that pornography is shaping and molding attitudes and behaviors, that teaches boys that they have a sense of entitlement to the bodies of women and girls and teaches girls that they exist primarily for male sexual gratification and pleasure. And that's my main focus at present is exposing how we are warping the sexuality of an entire generation, how we are contributing to violence and brutality and sexual cruelty,. callousness, in what we are presenting as normal sex, and this is stuff starting earlier and earlier. So yeah, I've just felt that I'm supposed to bring these issues to the light in the hope that we can build an uprising, a global rebellion, if you like, against these harmful cultural scripts and harmful dictates which are causing so much documented damage. Rodney Olsen  You mentioned the the use of pornography and you campaigned very strongly against it. So how do you respond to those who would perhaps say, Well, if you don't like it, don't use it? Melinda Tankard Reist  That's like saying if you don't like pollution don't breathe it. You know, the fact is that we live in porn culture. We're trying to raise healthy, happy, resilient children in a pornified landscape that's floor to ceiling. It's everywhere. It's just a ridiculous nonsensical, stupid argument, to say, you know, close your eyes and don't don't look, because the research is solid, on the way that pornography contributes to violence against women, the way that it contributes to rape myth that girls actually want to be raped that no actually means yes. The way that it contributes to sexual harassment. Girls tell me in every school I go to about being groped at school about being asked for naked selfies about being asked for sexual acts in the school playground, being bullied to behave in to take up pornified roles and behaviors. So look, I just have no time for that argument. The fact is that the world is being indoctrinated by a porn, it's a propaganda. It's hate speech, cultural norms are being taught through pornography and that affects all of us. Rodney Olsen  You mentioned about some of that starting at school. How young are we talking for those young girls that are being approached in this way? Melinda Tankard Reist  I'm now taking my message into primary schools, which I didn't envision when I first started out and that's the tragedy of it. Even children now, but hey, In inappropriate ways, they're acting out sexually, what they have seen in pornography or sometimes searching for it, sometimes innocently, putting in a search term looking for their favorite cartoon character. All roads lead to porn and it's not a matter of if my child will see porn, it's a matter of when. I would say most commonly year seven year eights. Now girls tell me that they're being approached, they're being sexually harassed, they're being groped, they're being touched. They're having photos taken down their blouses up their skirts, and the real tragedy is they think this is normal. They think they should just have to put up with it. And I have girls say to me, we didn't know we were allowed to say no. They get given a hard time for standing up for themselves, but then the whole culture tells them that being degraded is sexy. That you should behave in these ways if you want to be seen as free and sexually liberated and it's not just through overt porn sites, it's throughout the culture everywhere and music, fashion games, advertising marketing, in a shopping center with floor to ceiling quantified portrayals of, of women presenting this very harmful normative stereotype about women and what women and girls are good for. Rodney Olsen  Any of us who have seen on Facebook, Collective Shout, that movement that you're talking about that you founded, would have seen some very disturbing images of girls younger and younger being presented in a sexualized way. And the thing I think that disturbs me the most is oftentimes, these are through things like Instagram accounts that are run by these girls' mothers. How can they not understand the harm that they're causing? Melinda Tankard Reist  Yes, we have a global campaign at against Instagram under the hashtag wake up Instagram. We've been calling out Instagram for facilitating predators. We have exposed hundreds of predators operating on Instagram contacting the underage girls, asking them to chat privately, posting sexual fantasies publicly about these girls, capturing their images and sending those images to designated websites for these men and their their friends. And tragically Instagrams become a predators paradise. Sometimes the girls appear to be operating their own accounts, sometimes it appears to be a parent, but sometimes it's clear these girls are being trafficked to being a being sold on online. And we've said to Instagram You know, this is just not good enough. You claim to care about children and child safety. But look at what we've exposed and my team is very small, you know? We've captured imagery of men live masturbating to schoolgirls in their school uniforms, visible school uniforms, we can identify the school. And the girl will invite anyone to chat with them, video chats, but they don't know who's behind the handle of those who attend the chat until she sees what they're doing. And it's, it's just so common. We don't think that any parent should have their child on Instagram to be honest. It's just too too dangerous. Most of the grooming now is happening online. Children have been groomed by predators in places that a lot of parents think are safe for their child and they're just not. Rodney Olsen  We hear from time to time people who are up in arms about various online platforms such as tik tok and others, but then you have that mainstream one Instagram and I guess that would be showing to a lot of people thinking well, I thought that that was a safe place and and they would think that certain online platforms are safe and yet it doesn't seem that any of them are Melinda Tankard Reist  now That's right. I'm in tic tocs full of full of porn now as well and girls imitating what they're seeing in in porn inspired music videos, for example, parents have to be across what's going on online. However, having said that, it's too much for us. You know, it takes a village to raise a child, we can't monitor our child 24 hours a day, even if they're not being exposed to these harmful messages at home, what happens when they're on the school bus? What happens when they're at school camp, what happens when they're in the school yard or visiting a friend, on a weekend parents tell us this is how their child was often exposed in the first instance. And that's why we need our governments and our regulatory bodies and the heads of these things. big tech corporations to actually take child sexual exploitation seriously. One good outcome is that we are now in conversation with some of these global corporations, Instagram and Facebook where we're meeting with now. They're aware of our concerns, they know they need to do something to address them. We're also now in conversation with Alibaba after exposing the sale of child sexual abuse dolls, replica children, replica infants, lifelike babies and toddlers being sold through one of the biggest global shopping apps and online platforms in the world. And now they've come to us after we got those dolls down off their platform and asked for our input as to how they can do better. So there are some good things happening. I have to remind myself of that most days but you know, it's going to take a lot more before our children are safe online, Rodney Olsen  There is that online threat but another disturbing thing is you can just walk through a shopping center and you're seeing images there on shop fronts or on advertising billboards, within shopping centers that I guess 10 years ago probably would have been the sorts of things that would have appeared in pornography magazines. Melinda Tankard Reist  Yeah, what we've seen now is just the pornification of culture, that wall to wall hyper sexualized images and messages which contribute to the second class status of women. The biggest study on the objectification of women in the world and meta analysis of all of the existing global research found that objectified portrayals of women contribute to a diminished view of women's competence, morality and humanity. That's how serious this issue is and yet we have the CEO's of our property groups, the shopping centres like Westfield, who are essentially landlords to the tenants Honey Birdette in this case the sex shop, which features floor to ceiling depictions of semi naked women, sexually suggestive poses. Honey Birdette is a repeat corporate offender. They continually act in breach of the Australian Association of National Advertisers code of ethics. However, there are no penalties for non compliance. There are no fines, there's no powers to enforce the rulings of ad standards. So the CEOs actually have the gall to call themselves Male Champions of Change. Now Male Champions of Change is an initiative to get a CEOs, male CEOs, to sign up to say we will do all in our power to stamp out sexism in our communities in our shopping centers and yet, they do nothing to rein in the unethical harmful behavior of their very own tenants. So, you know, we just don't buy it. We know parents that are boycotting the shopping centers, they don't want to go there, they don't want their kids exposed to these images. And that's an ongoing campaign that collective shot is running. Rodney Olsen  It sounds like these so called leaders of change, are actually just jumping on a bandwagon that they expect will get them some brownie points and yet people can see right through it, Melinda Tankard Reist  We call it pinkwashing. You know, you look like you care, but what are you actually doing? And that's why we're that's why we're exposing the double standards. Rodney Olsen  And this seems to be the case in a number of instances where businesses that have a number of arms will try and look caring, they'll try and look like they're trying to bring about healthy change with one brand and yet, with another brand, they're selling exactly what they're supposedly against. Melinda Tankard Reist  Exactly. And that's why we have a very big emphasis that present on corporate social responsibility on your values and your mission statements. If you claim to care about the community, if you claim to care about women and girls and children, then you know you can't have it both ways. Often we do, what we do is just quote their own vision and value statements back to them. and point out that they're not actually living this out. We've done the same in a campaign to ethical super funds. We have contacted 23, I think at last count ethical super investment funds, who invest in these property groups and yet claim to have, you know, very high standards around investment. You won't invest in tobacco, gambling, alcohol, those sorts of things and yet even some of the faith based super funds are still investing in shopping centers, which are hosting sexism. So we're calling out that double standard is. Rodney Olsen  Well, one of the words that I hear so often, when any of these sorts of issues are raised is empowerment. We hear of businesses who profit from what you call sexual objectification say that they are empowering women. So what's your response to those voices? Melinda Tankard Reist  Well, it's just, it's just not true. That's just not true. And anyone following our work will see how how we have documented that that's not true. For example, we put in a major submission to the Australian Human Rights Commission's inquiry into sexual harassment. It's a relatively recent inquiry, you can find that submission and many others on our website, and we documented all of the links between sexualization and objectification of women and girls, right through to sexist attitudes, the formation of sexist attitudes contributing to sexual behaviors, inappropriate behavior, contributing to violence against women. We draw those links, we join the dots If you like and say that you can't just address, you know, say, the glass ceiling without addressing the way harmful corporate behaviors contribute to demonstrable harms to women and girls. So yeah, forget about you your language, let's look at what you're actually doing. Rodney Olsen  And yet many young women seem to have bought that lie of empowerment. And so anything that they do that is sexualized, they still keep under that banner of empowerment, not realizing that it's actually disempowerment. Melinda Tankard Reist  That girls have been lied to from the moment they're born. and empowerment, liberation freedom has been presented to them, really, by the sex industry or sex industry messaging, telling them that empowerment means, you know, adopting pornified roles and behaviors. Flashing your breasts in public providing sexual acts to boys being able to pole dance. This is not true empowerment. And again our work over a decade has been to try to help young women to to see through to see through that and to value themselves to something other than being able to attract the male gaze and being able to attract sexual attention. What about your gifts, your abilities, your talents, your art, your poetry, your desire to make a difference in the world, about you know, those kind of character traits that we so need in the world today, you know, basic empathy. You know, we're driving the empathy out of young people, particularly boys, and we've been working hard to help girls see that they are more than just porn fantasy props, that they that they deserve more that they are allowed to stand up for themselves and demand better and not conform to this these toxic cultural messages which, again, the research says is harmful to them. It's not just my opinion, it's what the research demonstrates. So fortunately, we have more young women now joining our movement. I get girls in school saying, you know, just so grateful to hear a different message, a countercultural messenger, a critique and dissection of the culture they live in. often they'll say, Oh, we thought there was something wrong with us individually, for not wanting to do all of these things. But then they realized that actually, no, this is all education and training provided by a sexed up world, which is harmful to them. And that's our only hope. I think we can help young people to resist upon culture to rise up against it and to demand something better for themselves, their friends, their little brothers, their little sisters and their future children. Rodney Olsen  And these young women who hear this message it must lift an enormous burden off their shoulders to know that they don't have to acting this way, Melinda Tankard Reist  Because it's the most probably the most rewarding aspect of my work is to see that realization to see the lights go on and for them to say, Oh, we don't actually have to put up with this, well, you know, we can say, No, we can just not conform to this pressure, this terrible pressure that they are under. And so, you know, even only if only a small number of girls decide to live differently, and not to conform and say they have the right to say no. And again, if more boys decide to change, to resist toxic masculinity, to choose to be men of integrity and empathy, that's going to gonna make a massive difference. You know, it has to be the boys have to change as well. Rodney Olsen  You're touching on the boys and their responsibility as well and just in the same way that our young women have swallowed that lie that society has sold them, so have the young men and yet they don't realize it either. They somehow feel that this is what being a man is about and yet they've been sold a lie too. Melinda Tankard Reist  Boys have been sold a lie and the research shows that, for example, if they're learning about sexuality through porn, it's corrosive to connection. It's disconnects them emotionally, it's dumps their sexuality. It molds them in a hollow and callous understanding of sexuality. their attitudes become more cruel and more degrading. They believe that they're dominant and that girls should be submissive and this is an absolute tragedy. They won't know what true love and connection and intimacy and sensuality look like they may not ever experience it unless they make a radical change. And I interview boys on this subject and they say things like a porn contributed to me or made me undress every girl I met you know, in my mind. I saw every girl as a sex object, that they lost their ability to just be friends with girls. They were fantasizing about them. They also said that they started to respond to computers rather than to actual human beings. So they get turned on just by seeing this inanimate object of the computer, knowing what they could discover, you know, on the screen. And so real women and girls just can't can't compete with that, and why should they have to? But fortunately, there's a growing movement of men and boys around the world who are resisting porn, and who wants something better for themselves and for the women in their lives? Rodney Olsen   I would imagine that there's some parents listening, who are now very alarmed at what they're hearing and thinking, What do I do? How do I actually speak to my young people to my young girl or to my young boy about these sorts of things you've already highlighted. They can't escape. online because if it's not at home, and they'll see it somewhere else. So how do we go about preparing our young people for the reality of the world ahead? Melinda Tankard Reist  Well, we have to act personally and we have to act politically. Personally obviously setting standards in the home. not tolerating porn in the home, not tolerating violent, videos, violent, violent music, looking for teachable moments, you're out you're here and inappropriate ad on the radio or you see pornified portrayals of women in the shopping centers use it as a discussion point. Obviously, modeling what respect based relationships look like in the home, not tolerating put downs or so called jokes about bodies, how the system might be looking at the moment or yet put down to about how she might look. There's some of the things obviously having the computer in a public place in the home, not allowing kids on screens behind closed doors, having rules around devices, many parents feel that they've lost control with the devices. Some parents tell me that, you know, they all hand in their phones at a certain time every night so the family can do other things. Kids can, you know, radical idea, read a book, and just have that non screen time in the evenings. But then, you know, we have to take it further. It's too much for parents on their own. So, of course, I'm going to say sign up to Collective Shout and get involved. Get involved in cultural change and social transformation call on our governments to do better. And we elect them to represent us we elect them to defend the most vulnerable surely that has to be our children. So we've been running campaigns for example, to get an age verification system, so that kids just can't enter torture porn right? porn, sadism porn, with you know, just one click because there's no proof of age required. So you're acting personally acting politically having those difficult conversations. If we're not talking to our kids about these things someone else will be and they may not share our values for our, our children. So even though we don't want to, we'd rather not have to, we have to start having these conversations when the children are young. I have resources on this you can find on my website, How to Talk to Your Kids About Porn is a very popular book that I have available. And another book is called Good Pictures, Bad Pictures which you read with your child and a young age to help them know that this is not appropriate and what to do if they see an image because it's inevitable they will see something. So we don't want them to feel ashamed. If they feel ashamed they won't tell us what they've seen. So we prepare them in advance for what they might come across and how to deal with that. I saw a really good tip just a couple of days ago and save the kid system another kid or have a look at this at school, then the child pauses and says, you know, well, I don't want to or, you know, don't just put that in my face just a really practical way, so that the child can just sort of catch their breath and not get exposed to something, because this is what's happening. And we need all the help we can get to prepare our children to strengthen them, and to protect them from the harms of pornography. Rodney Olsen  We're talking mainly at the moment about children or young people. Once people get to a certain age, of course, there would be some who would say all bets are off. They would say that sex is something natural, and it should be expressed, how ever an individual might decide what are your thoughts on that? Melinda Tankard Reist  Of course sex is natural. No one's disagreeing with that but there's expressions of sexuality that's healthy and has expressions that that aren't and that's what we're seeing. We're seeing porn sex, we're seeing aggressive acts expected from primarily from women and girls. Girls, telling me men expect, boys expect to treat them violently, including some of the signature signature acts that we see in porn, like choking and gagging and other things I won't describe more cruelty more degrading and so yes, there's nothing wrong with sexuality but porn isn't teaching healthy sexuality and if women and girls are being harmed, that's not an expression of healthy sexuality, it's quite the opposite. Rodney Olsen  What about sex work and prostitution? What should we think about those sorts of issues? Melinda Tankard Reist  I wrote a book on this issue called Prostitution Narrative Stories of Survival in the Sex Trade and that was about woman first person accounts of women who have exited the sex industry and told the truth about it. So of course, were opposed to the profiting the sale of the bodies of women and girls in this global industrial complex trading in the bodies of women or girls, you know, you don't have trafficking without the sex industry, you don't have trafficking without without brothels because the demand is so, so high. It's an absolute tragedy. It's modern day slavery. And of course, we don't support that either. And we have the evidence that testimonials of women who were there who were in it, and now speak to the truth about what they were expected to do. And the brutality, the cruelty, the degradation, the suffering, the long term, post traumatic stress, and trauma, which is all well documented now. Rodney Olsen  I mentioned in the opening that you've received a number of threats and harassment over time. Where does the bulk of this harassment come from? Who are the people that are targeting you in this way? Melinda Tankard Reist  Mostly men, and from people who have a vested interest in the way things are why Would they react unless they felt we were a threat over the weekend, we had around 1000 comments, most of them abusive. And this had come about as a result of a campaign we ran to get a hate page down off Instagram called Girls Getting Hurt and in this page, they feature images of women and girls being hurt, being injured. And it's all meant to be hilarious. So we actually got this page off Instagram and the ringleaders behind that page then initiated a cyber attack on us and across all of our platforms, and on posts that were directly related to our campaign to get this page off, and that's how that's how they operate. I mean, the main ringleader behind it as pictures of himself with his wife and children in it his profile. So you know, you have to wonder what life's like for them. But you know, I've long held the view that as Paul Keating used to say, the dogs may bark, but the caravan rolls on and you just keep rolling on you just you've got the dogs, you can get the tires, but you just keep on moving. And, you know, I don't spend a I don't look up my now to put my name into a search engine. I don't look at comments on articles I've, I've written, you know, in the public domain, I just can't expend my emotional energy, which is they want that, you know, they want to think that they've got to you. So we've made a bit of fun of it. We've shared some of the comments over the last 24 hours and there's there's some that are pretty, pretty funny. They're not meant to be funny. Anyone having a look at my Facebook will see why we're why we're saying that. So look, we, we debrief all the time, me and my team, we take time out when we need to, we do what we need to, to survive it. And just to press on, you know, there's a goal and we've got our eyes on it, and we just keep pressing on. They've been trying to destroy us for a decade now. And it hasn't been successful. I'm not saying it's easy. I'm not trying to make light of, of those attacks, because often they're very personal. They're often threatening. They're often disgusting, but we just, we just keep going. Rodney Olsen  And that's the thing I want to find out from you. You're totally immersed in a world where you're seeing some of the darker side of humanity, you're, you're plunging into depths that most of us will only scratch the surface of, how do you keep your head above water? How do you actually start to see the light in the world beyond all this darkness that you're encountering? Melinda Tankard Reist  Look, I've had to become very intentional about that because you do pay a price for staring into the abyss every day. Staring into the abyss, darkness and exposing it all the time and it does affect you. So I, I hike. I just disappear into the bush with a backpack sometimes on my own sometimes with friends. You know, I spent as much time in nature as I can. The sun's out today that always helps. I tried to start the day with some kind of you know, just contemplations, spiritual reading just to sort of set my brain so that I'm not straight into the porn, although it's that, you know, pretty quickly. I'm usually on I'm usually on Twitter pretty quickly, but I try to start with something else. I debrief with my friends. We actually have a lot of fun, which people might find hard to believe, but we do have a lot of laughs I get to work with very funny, very funny, smart, intelligent, passionate women. And I get the pleasure I get the pure privilege of speaking to thousands of young people a year and seeing seeing lives changed without without me And I get the privilege of seeing major victories, like last year was one of the biggest years we've ever had one victory after another, just in the last two months, we've had seven, seven wins in a row. And there's an adrenaline rush to that, you know, it's enjoyable, it's rewarding when you get those victories. So those things all help to, to balance out to make up for the harmful side of it. At the end of the year, I take a long break, I turn my phone off. I try not to do any work related reading. I've had I've been forced to take a long period of time off at the end of the year to be able to renew and get back into it in the new year. Rodney Olsen  I'm wondering what action, and you've touched on this a number of times and various aspects of it, but what action can the average person take against this multimillion dollar industry of exploitation? What can we do? Melinda Tankard Reist  Well know the facts know the truth. Don't buy into it. Don't buy the sexualised clothing, don't buy the violent music products don't allow that harmful industry to suck the life out of your children, protect them do all you can to protect them from porn have have every filtering device on. One that's recommended to me is his Family Zone, which seems to be pretty comprehensive. But as I said, we have to add broader than that and sign join Collective Shout, we make it easy for you to complain. We show you what the problem is, and we give you the steps to address it and do not think that one voice doesn't make a difference. We have seen campaigns won when one person has spoken out. Some of our quickest wins have been in two or three hours. One of the most common things people say to us is you helped me to be brave. In the past, I thought it was just me. I thought I was on my own. I thought there was something wrong with me. Now I've realized that I'm backed by thousands of people. And I can go out and say something I can take up my rightful place in the public square and speak, you know, we live here too. And we can't afford to sacrifice, especially our children to the global sex industry. We can't just stand back and allow that to happen. So it's time to get some power back and Collective Shout will give that give that to you. And you can be part of this what's becoming a global movement now against sexual exploitation in all its forms. Get on board collectiveshout.org, sign up and join our Facebook pages. We're on Twitter, we're on Instagram we're on LinkedIn and rather than sort of curse the darkness get involved in bringing about social transformation with us. Rodney Olsen  I'll certainly put links in the show notes at bleedingdaylight.net for Collective Shout so that people can get there, also to your website so people can grab hold of some of the books that you're talking about. I do find it interesting that a lot of the people that we see reacting and talking on your Facebook page are, of course, women do men sometimes feel that they don't have the right to speak into an issue that is seen as a women's issue like this. How do we empower men who want to stop this as well? How do we empower them to actually make a difference? Melinda Tankard Reist  Well, I don't know why it should be seen as a women's issue. It's a community issue. Because we need men to speak out. We need men to call out the bad behavior. We need men to stop being bystanders and not saying anything. We need men to stop joking along and laughing and underplaying what's really happening calling out sexually inappropriate behavior, sexist jokes, comments about women's bodies, calling it out. Something I find frustrating is when men ask me what are you doing for men or what are you doing for men? You know, I'm I'm really running this outfit with three women. That's it. And you know, we're running global campaigns, it's time for men to step up to recognize that they have to do something. Unfortunately, we have many good men in our movement. speaking out on this, I have young men working with me in schools now, Daniel. There's no excuse for, for not getting involved. Please get involved. We need everyone. Rodney Olsen  Do you think that's part of the problem that men don't see this as as their issue that they see it as a women's issue when actually it's going to provide them with with better relationships with the women that they love? Melinda Tankard Reist  Well, I'm just having trouble understanding why it would be just seen as a as a women's issue. This is a whole of society issue. Their children are being deformed and twisted into harmful ideas about bodies, relationships and sexuality. If they don't speak about this, their boys will be the sexual abusers of the future because men need to be involved, they need to demonstrate what healthy masculinity looks like. So the boys have some kind of role model. I mean men need to ask themselves this question. Why are boys now in the biggest cohort of sexual abusers, teenage boys now, why why is that? Why have we reneged on our responsibility to form boys in healthy ways? That question has to be asked by anyone who cares about our young people and where society is going. Why is this now so common that boys are featuring in our sexual assault statistics? Why's that? Now I'm going to say a big factor is the conditioning that porn has given them and the lack of guidance, the lack of inputting alternative ways to be men. I've written on this as well, when there was criticism of the Gillette ad The best a man can get. And I took a different different view, I believe the ad was encouraging men to act higher. Even though of course, you know, of course, it's to try and sell stuff, but I thought the overall message was quite quite good. You know, I just think this, this is an outstanding, unanswered question of our times. So please, men, please get on board. So some of the some of us women are getting a little bit, a little bit weary. And there's lots of ways to get involved. You may not want to be sort of a loud mouth activist, and you don't have to there's so many other ways to be involved. We need volunteers, we need help with website with, with design with fundraising, you know, if you've got money, you know, help us please. We run it running out of money. We're tax deductible. Now. You can donate, you know, and a lot of the action can happen behind the scenes. You don't all have to be upfront. There's lots of ways to help us and back us behind the scenes. Rodney Olsen  Melinda, I absolutely love your passion and there's so much in there that each of us can actually act on and that's what I love about it too. This is not talking some theory, but there are real issues that we can make a real difference in. So I want to thank you for your time today and thank you for leading away that we all get to follow. Thanks. Melinda Tankard Reist  Thanks so much, Rodney. Appreciate it. Emily OlsenThank you for listening to Bleeding Daylight. Please help us to shine more light into the darkness by sharing this episode with others. For further details and more episodes, please visit BleedingDaylight.net 

Melinda Tankard Reist is an Australian writer, speaker, blogger, and media commentator. Tankard Reist describes herself as "an advocate for women and girls", and as a "pro-life feminist". In this interview, Melinda is on the line with Henry. You can visit Melinda's website at https://melindatankardreist.com/about/. This interview was originally broadcast on 3SER's 97.7FM Casey Radio in August 2020. It was produced by Rob Kelly.

Beauty standards have been around ever since humans roamed the planet but now, more than ever, the ideal of what it means to be beautiful has somehow been hyper-sexualized, as if to say that the end goal of a woman is to be sexually desirable, oh and by the way, somehow we need to make it look effortless too. No wonder why so many women are now choosing to focus on being “better than beautiful”; but what happens when we take this approach?   You don’t want to miss:   Insight into a Princeton University study on how men reacted to seeing women in a bikini Why so many women are choosing not to show up to the beauty battle 5 ways that you can harness a holistic approach to beauty which integrates the inside and out   Links and resources:   Download my free skincare guide: ‘A simple guide on nailing your Skincare Routine’ Follow me on Instagram: @mariannefidel For more about me, my work, check out my website. To make an enquiry for bridal hair and makeup, complete enquiry form here. Other resources I mentioned in the episode: Women’s Forum Australia, Melinda Tankard Reist   Make sure you hit SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss out on any of my weekly episodes.   If you enjoyed this episode, please leave me a rating and a review so we can reach further and create a strong community of women who support each other. Big love, M x 

We're talking to Collective Shout who have successfully had sex dolls removed from the platform of Alibaba. Help Vision to keep 'Connecting Faith to Life': https://vision.org.au/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Show Notes: Host:  Peter Holmes Guests:  Melinda Tankard Reist   • Why focus on this subject matter?• Social expectations• Mental health • Dominate narrative • The story is changing for the worse • Free speech trumps everything• Young men being targeted• Maintaining a good mental health• Just a fantasy? • Porn causes impotence• Fulfilling expectations• A fight for love• The good news• The formation of young men • Swimming against the current• Shout outs     #peterholmes #porn #sex #addiction   Links and Resources: https://resistporn.org https://www.collectiveshout.org/ https://fightthenewdrug.org/ http://melindatankardreist.com.au/ https://www.esafety.gov.au/   Subscribe On: iTunes, Google Play, Pocket Casts, Spotify, Stitcher, Anchor, TuneIn, Blubrry, Spreaker, Player.fm, Radio Public, Overcast   Connect with us: Email: info@thiscatholiclife.com.au Facebook: @thiscatholiclifeau Twitter: @catholiclifeau Instagram: thiscatholiclifeau

There's plenty of talk on radio, but with 20twenty you'll find Life, Culture & Current events from a Biblical perspective. Interviews, stories and insight you definately won't hear in the mainstream media. This feed contains selected content from 20twenty, heard every weekday morning. See www.vision.org.au for more details Help Vision to keep 'Connecting Faith to Life': https://vision.org.au/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

(00:00-09:10): It is common for church leaders, as well as everyone else, to fall into seasons of burnout. Brian and Ian touch on this Business Insider article about preventing it. There are ways to sense the symptoms coming on and act before they set in. (09:10-18:41): AM1160’s own, Julie Roys writes “Chicago-based Megachurch Welcomes James MacDonald Into Fellowship”. Brian and Ian discuss her words and how MacDonald is out of place entering into leadership so soon after his scandal. Is it too soon for the former Harvest pastor? (18:41-27:52): New Bill Seeks to Introduce Bible Classes across Florida Public Schools. Brian and Ian talk about the controversial implication of religious classes in public schools. Brian has expressed his concern in the past with offering religious courses; he believes all religions ought to be represented in electives in public schools. (27:52-37:11): Sex Before Kissing: How 15-Year-Old Girls Are Dealing with Porn-Obsessed Boys. Brian and Ian discuss this Fight The New Drug article by Melinda Tankard Reist. Brian, who has a teenage daughter, is concerned with how boys treat girls in schools and how trivial society thinks pornography is. (37:11-48:21): We aren’t surprised...President Donald Trump tweeted an emphatic statement using the term “lynching”. Brian and Ian discuss why this is a problem and why racially associated words should not be watered down or thrown around so flippantly. (48:21-58:43): From time to time on this show, we discuss introverts and extroverts; even introverted extroverts or extroverted introverts. How does this relate or affect mission? Brian and Ian tough on this MissioAlliance article by Bob Hyatt “The Introverted Missional” and how one-on-one interactions are just as much of a mission act than a room full of people. (58:43-1:09:07): Brian and Ian mull over the “12 Things a Church Pastor Cannot Do”, a list by Chuck Lawless. They resonate with a few of them and discuss some of the less obvious ones such as “Change hearts” or “Grow Churches”. It is a common misconception that pastors lead more than God does. (1:09:07-1:15:27): Brian and Ian’s “Weird Stuff We Found on the Internet”: They see me rollin’...on my Segway, while I am trying to avoid being attacked by an anteater. If you’re stealing a car, put gas in it. If you are out of gas, don’t call the cops to come help. New school uniforms are frankly awesome. Meanwhile, what is the meaning of ‘unlimited’?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr Renate Klein is a Swiss-Australian biologist and social scientist. She has been a feminist health activist and academic since the 1980s and was a founder of FINRRAGE (Feminist International Network of Resistance to Reproductive and Genetic Engineering). She is the (co)author and (co)editor of 15 books on radical feminist theory and critiques of biotechnological procedures. Her most recent books are Surrogacy. A Human Rights Violation (Spinifex Press, 2017, translated into German as Mietmutterschaft. Eine Menschenrechtsverletzung; Marta Press, 2018) and Broken Bonds. Surrogate Mothers Speak Out (Spinifex Press, 2019, co-edited with Jennifer Lahl and Melinda Tankard Reist). She is also an original signer of www.stopsurrogacynow.com/ and a founder of ABSA – Abolishing Surrogacy (Australia). Renate will be speaking on the panel Surrogacy: A Human Rights Violation at the FiLiA conference in October 2019. For this podcast she is joined in conversation by FiLiA spokeswoman Dr Heather Brunskell-Evans.LINKSRead Renate’s books Surrogacy: A Human Rights Violation and Broken Bonds: Surrogate Mothers Speak OutSTOP SURROGACY NOWFACEBOOKTWITTER

Dr Renate Klein is a Swiss-Australian biologist and social scientist. She has been a feminist health activist and academic since the 1980s and was a founder of FINRRAGE (Feminist International Network of Resistance to Reproductive and Genetic Engineering). She is the (co)author and  (co)editor of 15 books on radical feminist theory and critiques of biotechnological procedures. Her most recent books are Surrogacy. A Human Rights Violation (Spinifex Press, 2017, translated into German as Mietmutterschaft. Eine Menschenrechtsverletzung; Marta Press, 2018) and Broken Bonds. Surrogate Mothers Speak Out (Spinifex Press, 2019, co-edited with Jennifer Lahl and Melinda Tankard Reist).  She is also an original signer of www.stopsurrogacynow.com/ and a founder of ABSA – Abolishing Surrogacy (Australia). Renate will be speaking on the panel Surrogacy: A Human Rights Violation at the FiLiA conference in October 2019. For this podcast she is joined in conversation by FiLiA spokeswoman Dr Heather Brunskell-Evans.LINKSRead Renate's books Surrogacy: A Human Rights Violation and Broken Bonds: Surrogate Mothers Speak OutSTOP SURROGACY NOWFACEBOOKTWITTER

Melinda Tankard Reist - Collective Shout

Weand're talking to Collective Shout about the latest research about what contributes to sexual harassment in the workplace. Help Vision to keep 'Connecting Faith to Life': https://vision.org.au/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Porn. Is it just harmless fun or could it be negatively influencing our relationships and sexuality? We chat with Melinda Tankard Reist - speaker, author, media commentator and advocate for women, girls and young men everywhere who are living in a porn-saturated world. Like this episode? Make sure to rate and subscribe today! Keep up to date on our socials: @socialjustus.podcast

1. Where does the Bible say that slavery is wrong? 2. Would you recommend Melinda Tankard Reist as a resource against child sexual trafficking? 3. Is it OK for Christians to attend a yoga exercise class?

1. Where does the Bible say that slavery is wrong? 2. Would you recommend Melinda Tankard Reist as a resource against child sexual trafficking? 3. Is it OK for Christians to attend a yoga exercise class?

There's plenty of talk on radio, but with 20twenty you'll find Life, Culture & Current events from a Biblical perspective. Interviews, stories and insight you definately won't hear in the mainstream media. This feed contains selected content from 20twenty, heard every weekday morning. See www.vision.org.au for more details Help Vision to keep 'Connecting Faith to Life': https://vision.org.au/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

S03 E05: Micah Bournes recently spoke at a Brave Global vision night about the reality of humanities shared culpability and potential around sexual exploitation. I just finished a book entitled Unwanted about the battle of unwanted sexual behavior by Jay Stringer and I'm continued to be inspired by the work of Melinda Tankard Reist who founded Collective Shout inviting everyone to stop the sexual exploitation of our children. You may already see how these are connected but have a listen to the implications and the possibilities and enjoy the spoken word that invites us to get honest, humble and hopeful about creating a new world.

Today we recap the lessons learnt and powerful messages shared from Season 2 of the Get On Purpose Podcast.   In this episode: Knowing the power of one  and making the impossible possible with Nobel Peace Prize Recipient, Professor Muhammad Yunus. Helping entrepreneurs to tell their story, find their identity and own who they are in their business with John Beckett from Seed. Taking a stand, one issue at a time with Melinda Tankard Reist from MTR. Symon Brewis-Weston highlights the importance of creating leaders one person at a time, the dangers of comparison and knowing there is no ‘but’. Taking action to make a change, being curious and living to your values with Abigail Forsyth from sustainability company KeepCup. How to approach fear, exploring what is possible and the importance of putting yourself first for now and your future self by Heather Swan from Baseclimb. Fighting the good fight, integrity and being authentic with Therese Kerr from the Divine Company. Get on Purpose action (GOPA): What is your power? What is sitting in your hand?   Links mentioned in the show Professor Muhammad Yunus interview with Karen James

Melinda Tankard Reist talks about her work in Collective Shout which aims to combat and inform against the pornification of culture. She also explains about the initiative for corporations to pledge to act in ethical ways, as well as take on corporate ethical responsibility. The post The Pornification of Culture and Corporate Ethics appeared first on Cradio.

Today I am joined by  author, speaker, media commentator, blogger and advocate for women and girls, Melinda Tankard Reist. She is best known for her work addressing sexualisation, objectification, harms of pornography,  sexual exploitation, trafficking and violence against women. Melinda is author/editor of five books including Getting Real: Challenging the Sexualisation of Girls (Spinifex Press, 2009), now in its 9th printing, Big Porn Inc: Exposing the Harms of the Global Pornography Industry (Spinifex Press, 2011, co-edited with Dr Abigail Bray) and her new release Prostitution Narratives: Stories of Survival in the Sex Trade. (Spinifex Press, 2016, co-edited with Dr Caroline Norma) An opinion writer, Melinda is also a regular on morning television and has appeared on ABC’s Q&A and The Gruen Sessions as well as many other TV and radio programs. In this episode: Melinda’s shares her blueprint of using words to bring about change, in particular about the exploitation of girls and women. Her unwavering purpose in creating a world free of sexual exploitation Her work in action with the current corporate social responsibility campaign against Westfield and Honey Birdette How she brings people along the journey with her and inspire others into action. How travelling alone, yoga and her friends help Melinda deal with such demanding work.   The power of social media as a medium for social change campaigning Why it is important to stay on course, think long term and to always remember your vision when trying to live a life on purpose, even when people are trying to derail you “The standards you walk pass are the standards you have chosen to accept Silence is complicity, speaking out is the language of change”   Today’s Get on Purpose Action (GOPA): Is there anything in your life that you are uncomfortable walking by?   Links mentioned in the show: Melinda Tankard Reist Honey Birdette campaign On Purpose book - http://karentjames.com/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/onpurposehub Twitter - https://twitter.com/KarenTJames Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/onpurposehub/ Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_3QTpU3nQuVpfi503GBIw

Weand're talking to keynote speaker Nancy Guthrie about the theme of the upcoming One Love Conference, and'For Eternityand'. Help Vision to keep 'Connecting Faith to Life': https://vision.org.au/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Pornified messages are bombarding our young people and giving them distorted ideas about their bodies, about relationships, and about sexuality,” says Melinda Tankard Reist, in this podcast interview, “According to global research, (this is) making our kids very unwell.” We are seeing a rise in negative physical and mental health outcomes, eating disorders, anxiety and […]

https://www.collectiveshout.org/

There's plenty of talk on radio, but with 20twenty you'll find Life, Culture & Current events from a Biblical perspective. Interviews, stories and insight you definately won't hear in the mainstream media. This feed contains selected content from 20twenty, heard every weekday morning. See www.vision.org.au for more details Help Vision to keep 'Connecting Faith to Life': https://vision.org.au/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

S01 E05: I sat down with this global advocate and asked about her latest project, global prostitution, porn, the sex industry and why they hate her AND her latest book Prostitution Narratives... Melinda Tankard Reist is an author, speaker, media commentator, blogger and advocate for women and girls. She is best known for her work addressing sexualisation, objectification, harms of pornography, sexual exploitation, trafficking and violence against women. http://melindatankardreist.com

Prostitution is a global industry that generates more than $186 billion worldwide and has more than 13 million “employees”. But these numbers tell you nothing about the people involved in the sex industry – the circumstances that led them to a life of prostitution, the experiences they have in the industry, and the struggle to leave. A new book changes this. Prostitution Narratives shines a light on the reality of the sex industry through the true stories of women who escaped a life of prostitution. But it's done more than raise awareness of the issues and trauma faced by these women. As survivors of the sex industry, the book's contributors have come to realise that they are part of a global movement of women against prostitution. “The personal has become political,” Melinda Tankard Reist, one of the editors of the book and a long-time advocate for women and girls, says. “They've found strength in turning something devastating into something powerful.” In this episode of Life & Faith, Melinda talks about how vital it is to hear the voices of women from within the sex industry, to understand that truth and reality of the work they do.  --- BUY ‘Prostitution Narratives': http://bit.ly/2aRnSSd SUBSCRIBE to ‘Life & Faith': http://bit.ly/lifeandfaithpodcast

Melinda Tankard Reist speaks about 5 books: Giving Sorrow Words: Women’s Stories of Grief After Abortion, Defiant Birth: Women Who Resist Medical Eugenics, Getting Real: Challenging the Sexualisation of Girls and, Big Porn Inc: Exposing the Harms of the Global Pornography Industry and Prostitution Narratives.

There are not many like her.  Melinda Tankard-Reist is bold, intelligent and not willing to stand by and watch our women and girls be sexually exploited in any way.  It results in physical threats and targeted, vitriolic, social media attacks, but Melinda puts the cause above others feelings towards her.  Melinda uses her voice as she is best able and encourages others to do the same stating that “silence is the language of complicity, speaking out is the language of change”.  Hear from Melinda herself why pornography and the sexualisation of women and girls needs to change and what you can do to be a part of the solution. Susie might not have the impact of Melinda Tankard-Reist, but watching a simple episode of Fuller House has got her thinking about the power of TV and how significantly standards have changed in the last 29 years. Episode Timeline: 03:00   Introducing Author, Speaker and Advocate, Melinda Tankard-Reist 20:35   What is the goal of Melinda's work? 22:54   What is the personal cost for being an advocate? 24:36   Fuller House and the Degradation of Society Show Links: To find out more about Melinda Tankard-Reist, go to:  Melinda Tankard-Reist To find out more about Collective Shout, go to:  Collective Shout To find out more and support the Porn Harms Kids Movement:  Porn Harms Kids

There's plenty of talk on radio, but with 20twenty you'll find Life, Culture & Current events from a Biblical perspective. Interviews, stories and insight you definately won't hear in the mainstream media. This feed contains selected content from 20twenty, heard every weekday morning. See www.vision.org.au for more details Help Vision to keep 'Connecting Faith to Life': https://vision.org.au/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Weand're talking about a new documentary about young menand's attitudes to women. Melinda Tankard-Reist is our guest from Collective Shout. Help Vision to keep 'Connecting Faith to Life': https://vision.org.au/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In India, China and many other parts of the world today, girls are killed, aborted and abandoned simply because they are girls. The United Nations estimates as many as 200 million girls are missing in the world today because of this so-called “gendercide”. The film It's a Girl reveals this issue. Global experts and grassroots activists put the stories of killed, abandoned and trafficked girls in context and advocate different paths towards change, while collectively lamenting the lack of any truly effective action against this injustice. Simon Smart and Justine Toh discuss the film and speak to Melinda Tankard Reist about "gendercide".