Philippine mall pulls `rape` shirt after online outrage

Manila: The Philippines` biggest mall operator said Tuesday it had withdrawn from its shelves a T-shirt that made fun of rape, following social media outrage.

A photo of the dark blue T-shirt with the slogan: "It`s not rape. It`s a snuggle with a struggle", was posted by writer Karen Kunawicz on her Facebook page on Monday and quickly went viral.

SM Supermalls said in a statement the message on the T-shirt was "unacceptable", and that it only found out about it through social media. 

"We have immediately pulled out all the T-shirts of the consignor that distributes them," it said in a statement.

"Appropriate action will be taken to ensure this does not happen again. Thank you for informing us."

SM Supermalls, owned by the Philippines` richest man Henry Sy, operates 46 malls locally and has expanded to China.

Kunawicz`s Facebook photo of the T-shirt, which was displayed in the teen boys` section, was shared almost 3,000 times and liked by close to 1,000 people by Tuesday afternoon.

"I`m angry not just with SM but with the group of idiots that envisioned and actually produced this," one Facebook user said in a comment to Kunawicz`s post.

"A big company has an even bigger social responsibility to control what goes through their stores," another person on Facebook said in a separate comment.

Twitter user @Photoworldmanila said: "If you are a woman, you will be disgusted with #SM."

SM Supermalls said it was investigating how the shirt got into its inventory.