Point to Sarah Hanson-Young in the fight against “smutty” men’s magazines everywhere.
The Australian Greens Senator won a defamation case on Thursday against Zoo magazine for photoshopping her head onto the body of a half-naked underwear model.
The photo, which appeared in July 2012, added Hanson-Young’s face onto the lingerie model as part of an article titled “Zoo’s Asylum Seeker Bikini Plan.” The magazine promised to house a boatload of refugees in Zoo‘s office if the senator would agree to a revealing photoshoot.
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The magazine, which claims it reaches 500,000 Aussie men per issue, included an ill-advised search for “Australia’s Hottest Asylum Seeker” in the same spread.
“Are you a refugee not even the immigration minister could refuse? Then we want to see you! We’re looking for Oz’s hottest asylum seeker, so if you’ve swapped persecution for sexiness, we want to shoot you (with a camera — relax!) Send your pics and a short story about your tragic past.”
The magazine has since apologised for and retracted the controversial competition.
In Hanson-Young’s case, the publisher of Zoo, Bauer Media, argued the fake image was plainly intended as a joke. It will have to publish an apology in an upcoming issue, but it is unclear if it will have to pay the senator damages.
Hanson-Young, who has been a vocal critic of Australia’s refugee policies and the current government’s protocol of turning back the boats of those seeking asylum in Australia, greeted the news on Twitter, saying she was “thrilled” about the result.
Zoo have had to apologise for their smutty sexist portrayal of me in their men’s mag. I’m thrilled the fight is won pic.twitter.com/T2rWTDJ7op
— Sarah Hanson-Young (@sarahinthesen8) June 7, 2015
In a statement, Hanson-Young said she sued the magazine because young women need to see their leaders fighting sexism.
“I believe that it is important that women see their political leaders stand up and call out sexism when they see it,” she said. “As a mother it is a huge concern that my own daughter can Google my name and find images of my face photo shopped onto the body of a near naked women.”
“My daughter needs to know I did,” she added.
I sued Zoo Magazine because I believe it is important to stand up to sexism and I wanted to set a positive example to my daughter
— Sarah Hanson-Young (@sarahinthesen8) June 7, 2015
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