Johannesburg, May 16 (ANI): After a handful of Christians protested outside Cape Town’s Sexpo, Miss Nude South Africa has rejected claims that the event exploited women.

Bella Anderson, who is conducting lap dancing workshops at Sexpo, hoped that visitors to the event would leave more comfortable with who they were, instead of worrying about what other people said.

“We are all here by our own choice: no one’s been forced to be here,” 24.com quoted a topless Anderson as saying at her stall in the expo.

“I mean, I love sitting here… I enjoy this. It’s not like I’m a prostitute or anything.

“I’m just enjoying the fact that I’m a woman first of all, and second of all I’m using my womanly side and my femininity… to have fun with people.

“It’s not like I’m sleeping with anyone or doing bad things,” she added.

Outside the Cape Town Convention Centre, where Sexpo is being held, about 15 Christian conservatives held a placard protest and handed out pamphlets.

Spokesperson for the Christian Action Network Taryn Hodgson said that Christians believed that sex was a gift from God and should be expressed only within the confines of marriage.

“We shouldn’t take something that’s private and personal and make it public,” Hodgson said.

She also said it was outrageous that an industry that promoted the “objectification and exploitation” of women should be given space at a premier tourist destination in the heart of the city.

The protesters handed out a statement expressing concern that Sexpo would lure members of the public into experimenting with porn and attending strip clubs, which were hubs for criminal activity including prostitution.

Making a statement in reaction to the protest that the event was a “health, sexuality and lifestyle” show, Sexpo organiser Silas Howarth said: “We are quite happy there are people in the democracy who are… exercising their freedom of speech, but we also believe they should respect the fact that we have a massive expo, with massive, massive following.”

He said that attendances of some 100 000 over the past year in various centres showed that most South Africans were comfortable with the event.

“At the end of the day all we’re doing is saying ‘this is what’s out there, this is what is happening in the adult industry, this is what it feels like to be comfortable with your sexuality and sensuality and to have fun,’” he said.

“When it’s between two consenting people – or more than two consenting people – at the end of the day, if people are willing, if they’re wanting to do it, if they’re doing it safely, where’s the harm in that?” he added. (ANI)