Stores forced to pull ‘child bride’ Halloween costume after furious parents brand it ‘inappropriate’

29 October 2019, 14:22 | Updated: 31 October 2019, 06:00

By Naomi Bartram

@naomibartram

An Australian supermarket has now been forced to pull a children’s bride costume after one mum's petition.

With Halloween right around the corner, many parents are busy searching for the perfect outfit for their little ones.

But one mum in Australia was left fuming when she came across a bride costume for little girls.

The outfit - which cost 6$ or £3.20 from store Kmart - was made for children between the ages of 4 and 6 and included a white wedding gown and headband with veil.

However, a mum called Shannon B blasted it as insensitive and "beyond inappropriate".

In the petition, which was shared on Twitter, Shannon wrote: "Tell Kmart this is beyond inappropriate and offensive and that they have a social responsibility to pull this item off their shelves immediately.

"Please help me get this message to Kmart by signing this petition.

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"Each year, 12 million children (girls as young as 6 years old — the same size as this ‘costume’) are sold or married off by their family without their consent.

"That’s one million child marriages per month!"

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And after the petition gathered more than 500 signatures, Kmart were forced to remove the outfit from their shelves.

Issuing an apology, a spokesperson said: "Kmart Australia regrets the decision to range the bride costume.

"It was not intended to cause offence and we sincerely apologise.

"We have made the decision to withdraw this product."

But while lots of social media users agreed with Shannon, some didn’t see what all the fuss was about.

"It’s just a costume for goodness sake,” slammed one, continuing: “My daughter has asked multiple times for a ‘dress like mummy had’.

"It is a dress up nothing more … you’re ruining it for everyone. Get over yourself."

Another wrote: “What is wrong with a little girl wanting to dress up as a bride? Is it wrong for a girl to aspire to be a bride? I was under the impression that girls could be anything they wanted to be.”

Although another hit back: “I agree on the recall for a child bride costume. It is not acceptable. How sad it is that society has become so desensitized that they can’t see the forest for the trees.”