Our Line HQ

We're on Insta @ourlinehq, & LinkedIn.

Thanks to everyone who reposted the stuff we're doing. We'd be really grateful if people can please share our petition on other platforms too (we're new with not much social media reach yet!) Petition: change.org/p/stop-the-bbc…. We'd love more men to speak up. Cheers

This is our last football analogy. We don't know about football but we DO know that normalisation of strangulation is dangerous. Please sign our petition and please encourage others to do so: change.org/p/stop-the-bbc…

Huge thanks to everyone who has shared this today.

The petition hit 3,000 signatures just now thanks to everyone who shared it. We are incredibly bad at social media so that number is really down to other people amplifying the messages. THANK YOU. We don't know who Doug is but thanks to all the Dougs too. We need more Dougs.

Petition here, thanks: change.org/p/stop-the-bbc…

Very few men have signed our petition or publicly discussed the issue of strangulation. We'd love their support. We need it. So, we've created a handy badge. It's about football which we know some men like. Albeit Not All Men.

@SexIndustryRes Thank you for sharing this!

#SexIndustryArticles There’s a Eurovision song called ‘Choke Me’. This is why it matters. @support2report/theres-a-eurovision-song-called-choke-me-this-is-why-it-matters-1cd1e2b9df14" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">medium.com/@support2repor… "One entry this year is a song by Alexandra Căpitănescu and it’s called ‘Choke Me’. It references choking throughout, and contains lyrics such as “born for you to control”, “make my lungs explode”, “it’s hard to breathe in”.¹ Căpitănescu has argued that the song is a metaphor. In this article, I explore why that is an inadequate explanation. Drawing on existing research, I outline the key harms of choking (strangulation) and its normalisation in mainstream culture. Strangulation is a public health issue In 2022, non-fatal strangulation became a standalone criminal offence in England and Wales. Since this law, reports of strangulation have increased year-on-year². Over 40,000 strangulation and suffocation offences were recorded in 2024–2025². The new law was created to recognise that strangulation is a high-harm, high-risk behaviour³. It does not require much force to cause serious injury or death⁴. It takes 5–10 seconds for someone to lose consciousness and as little as 1–3 minutes for someone to die by strangulation⁵. Strangulation can cause a wide range of physical and psychological harms. Many people are at risk of serious long-term harm, since repeated strangulation is increasingly associated with cumulative brain injury⁹. There is a mistaken belief that strangulation can be done safely. Experts are clear though: there is no safe way to strangle⁴. Strangulation affects women and young people Strangulation occurs in domestic abuse and sexual contexts. It is a gendered issue. On average, one woman dies by strangulation every ten days in the UK¹⁰. Over a quarter of female homicide victims in England and Wales are killed by strangulation¹¹. Victims of non-fatal strangulation face a significantly increased risk of being killed in future by the same perpetrator⁵‧¹⁰‧¹²."

Our petition against the normalisation of strangulation in the media: change.org/p/stop-the-bbc… We are building our library of resources: instagram.com/ourlinehq/ @Eurovision @BBC @itvnews @lisanandy @InstituteFAS @BBCWomansHour @DelphineErnotte @rhiann_cooper

We'd love to see some men publicly condemning strangulation during sex. Please. We've got a petition, we've got an article, we've got some resources - feel free to use them, share them, whatever. Just please talk about it.

@MenAtWork_MC @genderisharmful @BBC @Eurovision But this will be a long-game in changing public perceptions of something now so normalised that more people 16-34 have been strangled than not. It needs more men to be publicly vocal. Many so-called male allies have been quiet. @MenAtWork_MC is the notable exception - thank you.

@MenAtWork_MC @genderisharmful @BBC @Eurovision Thanks for sharing. I think it's too easily dismissed as "it's just a song" or "it's a woman singing so it's ok" or "this is censorship!" We have learnt a lot doing this petition and it has prompted us to create some public-facing resources.

I’ll be doing some kind of protest either at @BBC HQ in London or the @Eurovision venue in Vienna, in response to the Romanian entry ‘Choke Me’, which makes a mockery of the normalised strangulation of women. Who’s in? #NoSafeWayToStrangle

@ElaraJo @ElaraJo love this - thanks for highlighting. We need voices like yours pointing stuff like this out. Thank you

@OurLineHQ You aren’t addressing the key decision makers on this. These are the people who decide: #speakers-6da9f37e-eac2-413e-ab3d-28e9f4292cd3" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">ebu.ch/groups/eurovis… Also the head of the EBU, Delphine Ernotte Cunci @DelphineEronotte

⚠️ Content warning: discussion of strangulation A Eurovision song repeatedly uses the phrase “choke me.” We object to the normalisation of violence against women. We’ve created a short video in rapid response: youtube.com/shorts/XgEX_9d… Petition link in comments.

We have a petition against the normalisation of strangulation in the media. We are starting with Eurovision (many issues there this year). Please read, sign, share: change.org/p/stop-the-bbc…

Strangulation during sex has all the same risks as strangulation that happens in other contexts. There's no safe way to strangle.

There are things that are good for our necks. Strangulation is not one of them. There is no safe way to strangle.

Please sign our petition here: change.org/p/stop-the-bbc…

Strangulation during sex is dangerous. There is no safe way to do it. So here is our guide for other fun sexual activities you can do instead. They won't cause loss of consciousness, stroke, brain injury or death.

The harm caused by strangulation during sex is the same as strangulation in other contexts. The risks are the same. See our evidence-based infographic below. Please sign & share our petition against the normalisation of strangulation in the media: change.org/p/stop-the-bbc…

@reneechopping Thank you for sharing our petition.

Romania’s Eurovision entry 'Choke Me' has been labelled “dangerous” and “reckless” for appearing to glamorise sexual strangulation, an unsafe practice that can lead to brain injury and death. The EBU has forced lyric changes before. They can do it again. c.org/SysTXCJRyb