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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico is deploying an army of
inflatable sex dolls dressed as office executives in a
head-turning publicity campaign against workplace
harassment of women in the famously macho country.

Timed to coincide with International Women's Day on
Wednesday, the advertisements show sex dolls with
staring eyes and gaping red mouths dressed in suits
and sitting at computers.

"No woman should be treated like an object. Sexual
harassment is degrading and it's a crime," says a
voice-over at the end of a television ad, which shows
a man walking past one of the dolls and casually
stroking her shoulder.

Machismo runs deep in Mexico, where it is common for
men to have mistresses. Some even set them up in a
second home.

Women generally earn less than male colleagues and
have fewer opportunities for promotion. Inappropriate
behavior toward women in work situations is also not
unusual.

Mexico's national institute for women said the ads --
which will run on television, radio, print media and
billboards from mid-March -- were aimed at stirring up
controversy and symbolized the use of women as sexual
objects.

Mexican law is often not on the side of women.

The age of consent varies from state to state, but can
be as young as 12. And with abortion frowned upon by
the Catholic majority, numerous rape victims are
pressured by courts and medical workers into having
children they do not want.

Surveys show countless women are beaten at home.

The anti-harassment campaign comes on the heels of a
campaign to combat violence against women, which
showed prominent women photographed with bruised and
cut faces.

Mexican President Vicente Fox has headed a series of
campaigns against sexism and other discrimination in
his five years in office.

However, he caused a stir earlier this year when he
made a joking reference to women as "washing machines
with two legs."

__________________

The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.~ Betty Grable

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