Kmart has removed a child’s bride costume from shelves across Australia after a Melbourne mom said the children’s wedding dress kit normalized forced child marriage.

The retail giant responded swiftly after mom Shannon B created a Change.org petition, which had just 200 signatures at the time, to get rid of the “beyond inappropriate and offensive” dress-up piece.

“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!” Shannon wrote.

“Child marriage means child abuse and torture in its worst forms - paedophilia, child rape, child slavery, child sex trafficking.”



World Vision Australia, a branch of the international humanitarian organization, confirmed the statistics in the original petition align with global data.

In a statement to 7 News Australia, a Kmart spokesperson said they regretted the decision to range the bride costume.

“It was not intended to cause offence and we sincerely apologize. We have made the decision to withdraw this product.”