Model’s rage after Spanish use her for ‘body positivity’ campaign without asking – then edit out prosthetic leg
A BRITISH model was left ‘shaking with rage’ after a body-positivity ad campaign used her image without permission and then edited out her prosthetic limb.
The advert, produced by Spain’s Ministry of Equality, shows five women of different ages, shapes and sizes relaxing on a beach, with the caption: ‘Summer is ours too.’
But The Mail on Sunday can reveal that not only did the artist use an image of Sian Green-Lord, 32, from her Instagram account, she also used editing tools to change her swimsuit and add a leg and armpit hair that do not feature in the original picture. The mother-of-one, a model and motivational speaker from Leicester, said the editing was ‘beyond wrong’.
‘I don’t know how to even explain the amount of anger that I’m feeling right now,’ she said in a video posted on Instagram. ‘It’s just been brought to my attention by one of my friends that the Spanish Government is using my image on a body-positivity campaign but they have edited out my prosthetic leg. I am literally shaking. I am so angry.
‘There’s one thing using my image without my permission. But there’s another thing editing my body.
‘My body, with my prosthetic leg. Oh my God, I’m shaking.
‘I literally don’t even know what to say but it’s beyond wrong.’
Mrs Green-Lord had her leg amputated after she was struck by a taxi aged 24 while on holiday in New York in 2013.
She finally received an apology from the driver in January 2020 when she appeared on the Lorraine show on ITV, but said it was ‘meaningless’ seven years after the accident.
Another two women who appear in the campaign also say their images were used without their permission. Nyome Nicholas Williams, 30, is seen in a gold bikini in the image – a picture she says was edited from an image she uploaded to her Instagram page.
‘It is just a reminder that as a black woman my body is still policed and as women in general our bodies are still not ours,’ she told Metro.
Ms Nicholas-Williams, known as Curvy Nyome on Instagram, said the artist behind the campaign had been in touch and confirmed she will be paid, but she is yet to hear from the Spanish government
Raissa Galvao, a Brazilian model, also reportedly said that her image was used without her consent. The campaign was launched last week by Spain’s Ministry of Equality and Institute of Women.
‘The campaign is intended as a response to fatphobia, hatred and the questioning of non-normative bodies – particularly those of women, something that’s most prevalent in the summertime,’ said the Women’s Institute.
Arte Mapache, who designed the poster, has since apologised on Twitter and said she would pay the models involved.
The Spanish Government was approached for comment.