British model furious after Spain’s body-positivity ad campaign used her image without consent

The Spanish government’s recent summer campaign invitingwomen of all shapes and sizes to hit the beach has floppeda second time after one of the models in the advertisement claimed that her prosthetic limb had been edited out. The British model was left infuriated after knowing that her image was used by Spain’s government without her permission.

She also claimed that her prosthetic leg was edited out.

Spain’s Equality ministry used photographs of five women as a part of its body positivity campaign. The 32-year-old Sian Green-Lord said she found out about the campaign through her friends. She is the second woman in the ad who claims that her images were used without her consent.

Londoner Nyome Nicholas-Williams said an image taken from her Instagram account was used by the Spanish Institute for Women in their poster, the BBC reported. The image features five women relaxing on the beach, with the slogan “Summer Is Ours Too” on it. At the lower left of the picture, Ms Green-Lord can be seen.

The British influencer, speaking about the matter in an Instagram Story, said that she was left “shaking with rage” when she discovered that her prosthetic leg had been edited out of her images. She also mentioned thatthe bikini she was wearing was also changed.

Sharing a video message, she said, “I don’t know how to even explain the amount of anger that I’m feeling right now. There’s one thing using my image without my permission. But there’s another thing editing my body.”

The BBC quoted Ms Green-Lord as saying, “I literally don’t even know what to say but it’s beyond wrong.” The model’s leg was amputated after being struck by a taxi in 2013 while she was holidaying in New York.

Arte Mapache, who created the campaign, on Thursday issued an apology for incorporating the photos without formal permission from the models. “Given the (justified) controversy over the image rights in the illustration, I have decided that the best way to make amends for the damage that may have resulted from my actions is to share out the money I received for the work and give equal parts to the people in the poster,” she said.

The Spanish government has not addressed the controversy yet. However, the Women’s Institute that used her image said in a statement earlier this week: “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.”