Arkansas-based Walmart Inc. will remove Cosmopolitan magazine from checkout lines at 5,000 of its stores, according to the National Center on Sexual Exploitation.
“This is what real change looks like in our #MeToo culture, and NCOSE is proud to work with a major corporation like Walmart to combat sexually exploitative influences in our society,” the organization’s executive director, Dawn Hawkins, said.
The NCOSE, which describes itself as an advocate for a “world free from all forms of sexual exploitation,” had been working with the retailer for months on revising its magazine policy, according to a news release.
Hawkins said in a statement that Cosmopolitan “sends the same messages about female sexuality as Playboy.”
“Women, men and children are bombarded daily with sexually objectifying and explicit materials, not only online, but in the checkout line at the store,” she wrote.
The Associated Press reported that Walmart said the move was a "business decision"
Walmart senior director of corporate affairs Meggan Kring says customers can find Cosmopolitan in the magazine section of its stores.
A Cosmopolitan spokesman said the magazine has a focus on empowerment and is "proud of all that the brand has achieved for women around the world."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.