Bristol charity Women's Aid has said that it is in talks with Love Island bosses at ITV regarding the 'misogyny and controlling behaviour' exhibited by some contestants this year. In a statement, the charity insisted that 'specific information on abusive relationships and an understanding on controlling behaviour in relationships' is missing from ITV's 'inclusive training' ahead of the series.
Many viewers of the ITV2 show have taken to social media over the last week to call out some of the behaviour shown by some male Islanders during the fall out from Casa Amor. Dami Hope came under fire after hitting back at Indiyah Pollack despite having eyes for other girls during Casa Amor, and calling Summer Botwe 'fake', MailOnline reports.
Gemma Owen was accused of 'flirting' with Billy Brown by Luca Bish after being shown clips of her during Movie Night, after she repeatedly denied that nothing had happened. After Movie Night, Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu was branded a 'liar' by Davide Sanclimenti after briefly flirting with George during her time in Casa Amor, despite Davide kissing two other girls whilst they were away from each other.
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In response to the actions of some of the men in the villa, Women's Aid released a statement. It said: "At Women's Aid we are being tagged into a stream of Twitter posts, with viewers of Love Island highlighting the misogyny and controlling behaviour being shown on screen.
"This is clearly more than talking about any individual contestants, and a programme based around the formation of romantic relationships must have guidelines on what behaviour is acceptable and unacceptable in those relationships. We are talking to ITV, and they have shared with us information on their inclusion training, but what appears to be missing is specific information on abusive relationships and an understanding of controlling behaviour in relationships."
Refuge, another women's charity, also issued a statement. The comments highlighted the 'gaslighting and coercive control' demonstrated by some men in the villa. On Twitter, the charity wrote: "The misogyny and casual sexism witnessed on this series of #LoveIsland is extremely concerning.
"The double standards, gaslighting and coercive control being displayed by the men in the villa is hugely problematic."
On Twitter, viewers have shared their thoughts on the behaviour exhibited on Love Island by some male contestants. Ruby wrote: "starting to actually feel scared for these girls. The misogyny and manipulation these men are conducting is acc terrifying.
"And Luca is too obsessed and protective of Gemma. Starting to feel gross watching these vulnerable women get treated like objects in the villa."
Gabriella said: "luca laughing at the boys’ behaviour while simultaneously being fuming at gemma for SPEAKING to another man? the misogyny of this year is wild. luca needs to get on a flight home and couple up with jacques."
Dollabilz wrote: "Half of these guys were caught in 4K cracking in with other babes, but it’s Ekin’s very much ambiguous footage that they keep talking about. Is this not misogyny?"
"Seeing Ekin-Su come in a bad b***h then slowly become a shell of herself in real time is the most depressing s**t I’ve ever watched," wrote Daxori47. "Love Island is also hard to watch because the boys literally laugh & smile while the girls are suffering the misogyny is endless."
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