Parliament Passes Bill Banning Sexist and Discriminatory Advertisements

The Verkhovna Rada adopted at second reading bill No. 3427 on amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Advertising” to combat sex discrimination.

Amendments to the current Law of Ukraine “On Advertising” define the concepts of “discriminatory advertisement” and “advertisement containing sex discrimination., strengthen liability for violations of advertising regulations, and strengthen protection of advertising consumers’ rights.

“Advertisement containing sex discrimination” is an advertisement containing statements and/or images depicting the intellectual, physical, social, or other superiority of one sex over another and/or depicting the stereotypical role of men and women, which promotes degrading and contemptuous treatment; assaults human dignity because of sex; demonstrates gender-based violence; uses images of the human body (body parts) exclusively as a sexual object in order to attract the consumer’s attention and/or references (words, sounds, images) to sexual relations that do not relate to the advertised product or the way it is consumed.”

The law improves the legal regulation in the field of advertising to combat sex discrimination in line with Ukraine’s obligations under the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Combating sex discrimination is also enshrined in the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and other international instruments, the binding nature of which was approved by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, including the Council of Europe’s Gender Equality Strategy for 2018-2023 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Natalia Tolub