A talk with Professor Richardson along with sex trade survivors who will talk about the reality of pornography and prostitution.
Sex robots: A boon or a Trojan horse?“Women with full subjectivity are neither desirable nor idealized by men, who can substitute them with stone, metal or silicone.” – Kathleen Richardson
This event is part of Professor Kathleen Richardson’s book tour for her new book, Sex Robots: The End of Love. This fascinating book argues that sex robots and AI girlfriends are a Trojan horse – a gift that is causing irrevocable harm to human beings and is ultimately threatening the foundations we need for human love to thrive.
Richardson draws links between sex robots and pornography and prostitution, and the capitalist trend of attempting to turn human beings into property that can be monetized and profited from. She sees sex robots as yet another patriarchal practice and an extension of the long history of men’s fictional attempts to create facsimile women that they consider superior to real women.
This will be an opportunity to hear from Professor Richardson along with sex trade survivors who will talk about the reality of pornography and prostitution and the ‘girlfriend experience’ messaging on which AI girlfriends are trained.
This event is timely, given the recent furore about Grok delivering undressed and sexualised images of real people, mostly women and children. This has put the spotlight on technology used to exploit and abuse women. We need to ask what the violent and misogynistic pornography that floods the internet is doing to children and the wider culture; to understand how the sexploitation industry’s distorted model of what sexual and intimate relationships should look like is now becoming entrenched as the norm and how this is leading inexorably to a devastating and degraded image of how women should be. Is it any wonder that we are now seeing a growing male desire for facsimile women that are ever obedient, submissive, and ready to build up his ego and reinforce his distorted world view?
Can humanity survive without love and real connection? And, if Richardson is correct, what we can do to change the terrifying trajectory that humanity is hurtling along.
Venue details This is an in-person event to be held in central Sheffield. We will email ticket holders with the exact details of the venue shortly before the event. If you can’t see the email, please check your spam folders.
We apologise that the venue is NOT wheelchair accessible. If you need any special assistance, please don’t hesitate to email us at info@nordicmodelnow.org.
Tickets Standard tickets are £5 and concessionary tickets are £3.
Please select the ticket price that best matches your financial circumstances. If you want to come but cannot afford a concessionary ticket, please email info@nordicmodelnow.org and we will endeavour to provide you with a free ticket.
Programme Coming soon...
Children and teenagers We apologise that we are not running a creche at this event. While babes in arms are welcome (please take them outside the room if they cry), this event is not suitable for children.
However, we encourage older teenagers to attend, but advise discretion with younger teenagers and require parental supervision for teenagers under 16.
Questions There will be time for questions during the event, but you are welcome to email in advance any questions you would like the panel to consider. Please put ‘Event Question’ in the subject line and email it to info@nordicmodelnow.org. Time constraints mean we will be limited in how many questions we can address.
This is a mixed event This event will include women talking about some of the worst forms of male violence. We ask everyone, but particularly men, to be mindful of this and how both speakers and members of the audience may find this triggering because it resonates with their own experiences of male violence. We ask everyone to be open and respectful.
Speakers Emily Husain. Emily is a civil barrister and feminist who has volunteered with women’s organisations and groups addressing violence against women for several years. Emily has a particular interest in the domestic and international legislative framework surrounding prostitution and she joined NMN in 2023. Emily will chair the event.
Esther. Esther has a longstanding interest in research on legal and public policy approaches to sexualised violence and domestic abuse. She uses her own experience of porn and prostitution to reflect on these issues.
Heli St Luce. Heli designs and facilitates interactive workshops for adults and businesses, she is a coach, aromatherapist and ceremony/ritual guide. As the child of an underage, immigrant, single mother she was witness to sexploitation first ‘saving’ her mother and then making her sick. “I’ve always wanted to change the world, working with NMN creates a real and valuable way to do that”.
Kathleen Richardson. Kathleen is Professor of Ethics and Culture of Robots and AI at De Montfort University, and Director of Women Ethics Robots AI and Data. She is also the founder of the Campaign Against Porn (‘Sex’) Robots, which aims to warn against the dangers of normalising relationships with machines and reinforcing female dehumanisation.
Michelle Kelly. Michelle is an author and activist from the UK, and blogs at michkelly8.substack.com She is also a sex trafficking survivor, having been initially trafficked under the guise of a legal ‘escort agency’. She is passionate about challenging the lies of the pro-prostitution lobby and supporting women out of the sex trade. She is of Roma/Traveller and Mizrahi heritage..
Sian. Sian is a survivor of street prostitution. She is one of the survivor representatives at Nordic Model Now!
Hotels near To be revealed on the day
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VenueTo be revealed on the day
AddressCentral Sheffield, Sheffield, Yorkshire,
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