A new ad from PETA being criticized on social media for comparing rape of humans to animal in the food industry.
The Huffington Post reported that the ad begins in black and white with women saying things like, "One man held me down, while another man touched me," and, "I was so scared. I didn't know what I had done wrong."
But the ad changes when the women saying the lines hold up up photos of cows and pigs. The commercial ends with the message, "Every year, billions of animals are born into the meat, egg and dairy industries. Almost all of them are a result of forcible artificial insemination. Almost all of them are a result of rape. Don't participate, go vegan."
People quickly called out the organization on Twitter:
PETA responded to commenters on YouTube and Twitter by saying, "Sexual abuse is a serious issue. Acknowledging it for animals doesn't take away from humans."
PETA is no stranger to controversy, and they are standing by the ad. The organization's president, Ingrid Newkirk, released a statement in response to the controversy:
It is rape when someone sticks their hand into a vagina or rectum without permission. That's the dictionary definition of rape. We believe that everyone should see the reality of dairy, meat, and turkey production and then, unless they're ethically blind, they will be appalled. Every decent person abhors and denounces sexual abuse of women but we cannot blithely accept the sexual abuse of other females who happen not to be human but have the same vulnerability to pain. We can't fill our mouth full of steak, turkey or cheese knowing that mother cows are routinely sexually abused and that their calves -- their beloved offspring -- are taken from them shortly after birth. Any woman (or man!) with a heart should scream bloody murder on behalf of the animals who can't scream it themselves.
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