Research shows that women are 10X more likely than men to be objectified in sports. All too often, media cameras covering female athletes have zoomed in with impunity to their breasts, buttocks, thighs and crotches. This has been going on for decades. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, over 17% of shots were coded as buttock shots and more than 20% were chest shots. Even as recently as the 2021 Summer Olympics, there were 2,500 images objectifying women reported. What’s worse – once these footage and photos are published, they also find their way to hundreds of websites which are dedicated to sexually exploitative images.

Sexist media camera angles aimed at women at sports events not only objectify them, but also disrespect their skills and achievements. It also perpetuates objectification of women in everyday life. LUX felt that it was time to call out this insidious practice before it becomes normalized.

Change The Angle is a campaign which highlighted the issue of sexist media camera angles at sports events.

A simple QR code was used to expose sexist camera angles. We played the media cameras at their own game by hacking a live broadcast of a beach volleyball tournament where the female athletes wore QR codes on parts of their bodies where media cameras tend to focus.

Research shows that women are 10X more likely than men to be objectified in sports. One of the main perpetrators of this is media cameras – which often focus on women’s breasts, buttocks, thighs and crotches. Sexist camera angles not only objectify female athletes, but also disrespect their skills and achievements. Furthermore, once these footage and photos are published, they also end up on hundreds of websites which are dedicated to sexually exploitative images. Apart from the occasional news headlines, there is little public awareness of this distressing issue.

LUX wanted to stand with women against sexism in sports and break this vicious circle by raising awareness of sexist camera angles and get media camera people to change their behaviour and change the angle of their cameras.

LUX sponsored the Durban Open Women’s Beach Volleyball 2023 tournament in South Africa and hijacked the media cameras to expose sexist camera angles during a live broadcast. Instead of wearing our logos, South Africa’s top women beach volleyball players sported QR codes on parts of their bodies where the media cameras tend to focus.

Viewers who scanned the QR code were led to the Change The Angle film where female athletes revealed our message about sexist camera angles. The film ended with a call for media cameras to focus on female athletes’ strengths and prowess; and to follow the simple actionable guidelines included.

To ensure maximum viewership, we partnered with South Africa’s largest sports network, South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), to broadcast the tournament live to millions of fans. Influencers and other athletes also attended the tournament and helped spread the message further by sharing the QR code.

Change The Angle received 4.7 billion impressions and was picked by more than 377 publications worldwide, including Yahoo, Telegraph, Washington Daily News and Boston Herald among others. These articles have also been viewed 1.54 million times so far.

The campaign generated $500,000 in earned media.

Significantly, South Africa’s biggest broadcast network*, South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has adopted Change The Angle guidelines.

 Over 80% of media companies at the Durban Open 2023 have also adopted the guidelines.

LUX will continue to work with media companies and SONKE Gender Justice Organisation to combat sexism against women in sports and everywhere else.

* The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has 19 radio stations (AM/FM) as well as six television broadcast channels for the general public. It is one of the largest of South Africa's state-owned enterprises.