A campaigning mum is claiming a breakthrough after a supermarket chain agreed to reconsider how it sells women's magazines – but now says she wants others to follow suit.
A campaigning mum is claiming a breakthrough after a supermarket chain agreed to reconsider how it sells women's magazines – but now says she wants others to follow suit.
Claire Riseborough, co-founder of the pressure group Child Eyes, says women's real-life magazines emblazoned with headlines on violent and sexual themes should be treated in the same way as so-called lads' mags when being sold in shops.
The group has been calling on supermarkets to follow guidance from the British Retail Consortium by selling them from high shelves out of children's eyelines, putting on modesty covers where necessary and not stocking them near children's comics and magazines.
Supermarket chain Morrisons has announced that it is to conduct a review into how it sells such magazines, and will listen to Child Eyes' concerns.
Ms Riseborough, from Trowse, said: 'We feel very happy as parents that we are being listened to.
'We don't think it's in the spirit of a family-friendly environment for children, when we are encouraging them to read, to be faced with headlines such as 'Tied up and raped at seven'.
'That's not the kind of thing we choose for our children to read.
Ms Riseborough, 38, said supporters had also reported modesty covers being put on other stores, including Sainsbury's at Longwater.
She added: 'It would be really great if the others see what Morrisons have done and follow their lead.'
A spokesman for Morrisons said: 'We pride ourselves on being a family-friendly store and are listening carefully to customers on this issue. We are now conducting a review of our news and magazine merchandising and will aim to reflect Child Eyes' concerns.'
Child Eyes was set up last October after the Bailey Review, which aimed to clamp down on the 'sexual wallpaper' surrounding children, and enjoyed a victory in November when French Connection agreed to remove a poster featuring a topless model from shop windows.
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