Emily Atack ‘I’m asking for it’ consent law campaign is slammed by sex abuse survivors

Emily Atack recently announced she is backing the new sexual consent campaign that has the tagline ‘I’m asking for.’ Sexual abuse survivors have slammed the “insulting” and “triggering” campaign.  

The actress is campaigning the Right To Equality, which aims to follow countries like Sweden, Portugal, Iceland, Spain, Denmark, and Canada, in tightening the laws around sexual consent.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast Emily, 34, explained that the current situation of examining whether a victim said “no” is “not working”. She added “It may not be the perfect solution but [we want] to flip it around and say, we're going to make this much easier - did that person say yes?”

The actress who is six months pregnant also revealed she is expecting a baby boy. She explained the campaign is not a “male bashing crusade” although some people have pointed out the images are all women and zero men who can also be victims of rape too. 

Emily Atack added “this is something we need boys and girls, men and women to work together on. Good education, underpinned with a change in law, is a start.”

The petition has a target of 10,000 signatures and has already received over 7,000. The Inbetweeners star shared an Instagram post that read: “Ahead of International Women’s Day this week I’m pleased to be announcing my latest campaign, working with Right To Equality to push for affirmative consent to be in the law. The current approach to consent in the UK perpetuates harmful gender stereotypes and places a disproportionate burden on women to communicate their lack of consent.” 

Those behind the petition have said the campaign has been designed intentionally to “draw attention.” The campaign was launched on March 5 with posters of the tagline on billboards and bus stops across the UK. As well as selling a white t-shirt for £28 with 'I'm asking for it' printed in pink block capitals on the front, and 'let's change the law to require a clear yes to sex' in smaller writing on the back. 

Sexual abuse survivors took to X to slam the tagline. One person wrote: 'This is so triggering. I want to scream at the person who made it. This does significantly more damage than good.” 

Another added: “This is so triggering. I want to scream at the person who made it. This does significantly more damage than good.” Whilst a third commented: “The problem is that this is how rapists think.”

Let us know what you think in the comments below. Natalie Dixon is NationalWorld’s Lifestyle reporter. If you liked this article and want to read more about celebrities, fashion and beauty you can follow Natalie Dixon on X (Twitter) here.