Beyond Weinstein: PETA Campaign Seeks Recognition of Sexual Abuse of Animals on Farms

For Immediate Release:
November 15, 2022

Contact:
Robin Goist 202-483-7382

Ahead of the release of She Said, a film about the sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein—and as the disgraced movie producer’s criminal trial enters its sixth week—PETA is placing a sky-high message near Los Angeles International Airport, pointing out that being violated without consent isn’t just a human problem. It features a photograph of a suffering mother pig with the words “I did not consent” and highlights how industrialized factory farming industries exploit female animals, using what farmers have called a “rape rack.” Pregnant sows are forced into crates so small that they cannot turn around or take a step, the milk cows produce to nourish their babies is stolen, baby calves are stolen as well, and hens are treated not as sentient individuals but as mere egg-producing machines.

“As we shun old prejudices and once-accepted forms of behavior and start to talk frankly about consent, the discussion must include animals whose bodies are used and abused against their will,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “No living, feeling being wants to be manhandled, so PETA asks that we respect the role of consent in all we do, including how we eat.”

Pigs also endure routine sexual abuse: PETA’s investigation into a Hormel supplier documented that a supervisor rammed a cane into a pig’s vagina and kicked a young pig in the face, abdomen, and genitals to make her move while telling PETA’s investigator, “You gotta beat on the bitch. Make her cry.”

PETA’s billboard is located at 11222 S. La Cienega Blvd. near the intersection with Imperial Highway. It is visible at the I-405 and I-105 interchange.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.