Protecting the dignity of women in fashion advertisement: The new legal initiatives in a comparative law perspective

In recent decades, various initiatives have been taken at international level in order to promote the dignity of women in different fields. This chapter focuses on the protection of the dignity of women and the various normative steps taken against the stereotyping of women in the fashion field. It is shown that, besides respect for the basic principle to be found in all codes of advertisement self-regulation, the actual discussion emphasises the impact that some images, especially of very thin models, may have on the public at large and especially on a very young public of adolescent girls and boys. Given the enormous impact on the public, an educative function of fashion advertisement is to be promoted.