VideoMelinda Tankard Reist is a Canberra author, speaker, commentator and advocate with a special interest in issues affecting women and girls. Melinda is author of several books including the newly released Getting Real: Challenging the Sexualisation of Girls (Spinifex Press, 2009).
Melinda recently initiated a new grassroots campaigning movement, Collective Shout, to expose corporations, advertisers and marketers who objectify women and sexualise girls to sell products and services.
Her advocacy for women and girls has included helping establish a supported accommodation and outreach service for pregnant women without support, involvement in projects to address poverty, trafficking and sex slavery, and working to highlight and address the objectification of women and sexualisation of girls.