Australian retail giant Big W has pulled an ‘offensive’ Halloween costume from shelves after complaints about the way it represented mental health issues.
The Rubies Insane Asylum costume, which resembles a straitjacket used to confine psychiatric patients, was removed after concerns were raised Tuesday by national mental health advocacy group SANE.
SANE CEO Rachel Green expressed her disappointment with sales of the costume and urged other clothing retailers to remove the product.
“This is hurtful stuff and the fact that it is still considered acceptable to sell as a costume… really reveals the level of stigma that still exists in the community around mental illness,” Ms Green shared. Nine news.
‘It’s not okay to make fun of someone with a mental illness. We don’t see costumes for cancer patients and we would be shocked if we did.”
She also uploaded a post to LinkedIn yesterday, with photos of the costume advertised on the Big W website for a price of $46.80.
Ms Green urged Big W and major home furnishings retailer Spotlight to consider the impact of these products on their customers and the community.
‘Living with mental health problems is not a costume. Please do better and remove these products from sale,” she wrote.
‘We are people, just like you.’
The Rubies Insane Asylum costume (pictured) was pulled from shelves after complaints from national mental health organization SANE
A spokeswoman for Big W told Daily Mail Australia they had removed the costume from their website as soon as they became aware of the complaint yesterday.
“We are sorry for any impact we may have caused to the community by making this costume available in our Halloween range,” the spokeswoman said.
“We spoke to SANE Australia to understand the impact of stigma and experiences of people with complex mental health conditions and their families and to align ourselves with their position and values.”
Daily Mail Australia understands Spotlight has been selling a similar costume, but the product is no longer available on their website.
Spotlight has been contacted for further comment.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that more than 40 percent of Aussies aged 16 to 85 have had a mental disorder at some point in their lives.
A Big W spokeswoman confirmed they had removed the costume from their website as soon as they became aware of the complaint on Tuesday (pictured a Big W store in Sydney)
Each year, approximately 880,000 Australians over the age of 18 live with a complex mental illness, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and severe anxiety.
SANE issued a statement yesterday urging retailers to remove costumes ‘that stereotype people with complex mental health conditions’.
The organization has also launched a social media campaign to stop retailers across Australia from selling costumes that stigmatize mental health.