NEW ORLEANS - An adult store found itself in the center of controversy for displaying mannequins of beaten and bloody women. Mr. Binky's on Chartres, not affiliated with the Mr. Binky's stores in Slidell, Chalmette or Des Allemands, says the mannequins are Halloween decorations but several customers felt it was much more than that.
"It's atrocious," Winter Randall said.
One of the props was in the adult section of the store when Randall posted a photo of one of it on Facebook, where it quickly racked up shares, prompting concerned residents to call the store, asking for an explanation.
"Some people have said it's triggering, some have said it's traumatizing, some have said it's in poor taste," Randall said.
Wednesday WWL-TV found the mannequins in the Halloween section of the store. Randall says the explanation that it's a Halloween decoration still leaves her feeling uneasy.
"I don't care if it's just a Halloween prop it glorifies violence against women," Randall said.
When we showed the photos to Mary Claire Landry, Executive Director for the New Orleans Family Justice Center, she had the same reaction.
"It's a portrayal of what many women in this country experience every single day, we know that every single day in this country women are raped, women are beaten," Landry said. "This is an illustration of violence and what it looks like after it occurs."
Store employees did not want to do an on-camera interview but were adamant people are taking the props too seriously. Landry feels that as a society people don't take depictions of violence seriously enough.
"We will never have healthy communities as long as we tolerate this kind of display of violence taking place in our community," Landry said.
The manager of the store did say the mannequin was only in the sex toy section of the store because they were cleaning the floor.
New Orleans Family Justice Center says they will be reaching out to the store to help them understand why so many women are upset.