Army and Air Force Exchange Service is removing sexually explicit magazines from its shelves. Morality in Media (MIM) calls it a “great victory” in the effort to stop sexual exploitation in the military.
While officials claim this change is due to lack of sales, MIM has led the charge to remove these items in light of the military’s sexual exploitation scandal.
The development comes after the release of a Department of Defense letter claiming that pornography magazines can be sold on base, even though the Military Honor and Decency Act “prohibits the sale or rental of sexually explicit material on property under DOD jurisdiction.” The letter goes on to say that a Pentagon review board approves Penthouse, Playboy and other pornographic magazines because the board does not consider them to be “sexually explicit.”
“It is a great victory that the Army and Air Force exchanges will finally stop selling sexually exploitive magazines,” says Dawn Hawkins, executive director of Morality in Media. “Hopefully the other branches will follow suit or Secretary Hagel will order their removal from all bases.”
In his order on June 13, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus called for the immediate removal of all offensive and degrading materials, including pornography, from all work spaces and from Navy exchanges, where numerous pornographic magazines are sold.
