Women hosting stalls at the world’s biggest gambling conference are being told to wear ‘nothing more than swimsuits’ to attract customers will their male colleagues dress in suits.
The revelations come as the controversial ICE Totally Gaming event begins today at the Excel arena in London.
The chief executive of the Gambling Commission Sarah Harrison is calling for an end to sexism in the industry, after hearing female hosts are being instructed to wear little more than bikinis.
As the largest gambling event ICE Totally Gaming begins today, the chief executive of the gambling association has called for an end to sexism in the industry (pictured above, models at the event in 2017)
The revelations come as the controversial ICE Totally Gaming event begins today at the Excel arena
Troubling: At last year’s event, a number of models were painted with the phrase ‘no sex, just business’ on their backs while carrying out promotional work at the three-day event
Speaking last night, Ms Harrison warned that the regulator could boycott the event in future unless the way women are treated changes.
In previous years the conference has used women dressed in skimpy outfits in a bid to attract customers.
Ms Harrison told The Independent: ‘This is an industry where we have a number of talented, powerful and successful women.
‘Yet from walking around the exhibition you wouldn’t know this. Instead you saw men representing their companies wearing expensive tailored suits whilst their female colleagues were expected to wear nothing more than swimsuits. I say bring this to an end now.’
She said such attitudes towards women were a ‘significant stain on the industry’s reputation’.
Her comments follow weeks of heightened scrutiny over sexism in the United Kingdom.
The chief executive of the Gambling Commission Sarah Harrison is calling for an end to sexism in the industry, after hearing female hosts are being instructed to wear little more than bikinis
In previous years the conference has used women dressed in skimpy outfits in a bid to attract customers (above, models posing in 2017)
At the end of last month, allegations of groping and sexual harassment came to light following the all male Presidents Club dinner, attended by some of the country’s richest and most successful businessmen.
Last week the Professional Darts Corporation called time to its long-standing tradition of employing women to walk with male players to the stage which
Last week, the Professional Darts Corporation announced it would end the long-standing practice of employing women to walk with male players to the stage.
Formula One has also ditched ‘grid girls’; models who stand next to drivers before a race. F1′ s American owners, Liberty Media, denounced the practice as ‘at odds with modern-day societal norms’.
On Monday, F1 said children would instead accompany drivers onto the track, in much the same way that young mascots walk out with footballers before games. The ‘grid kids’ scheme, which will come into effect at F1′ s season-opening race in Melbourne next month, will be formed of competitors already in the junior categories of motor racing.