CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA – Bowing to pressure from “women’s groups,” British Petroleum has removed adult periodicals rated Category 1-Restricted from the 250 service stations the company owns in Australia. Category 1 materials may be sold only to persons age 18 or older and must be displayed in a sealed wrapper.A BP representative said the company could do nothing more than lobby for the magazines’ removal from the 1,150 other stores nationwide that are operated under co-branding arrangements.

The corporate move came more than a year after the company began restricting access to adult content.

“Eighteen months ago, we sealed both the M- and R-rated material, and some of it was sealed in an opaque cover so you could only see the title,” BP spokesman Gavin Jackman told Australian newspaper The Daily Telegraph.

Members of one of the women’s groups responsible for BP’s decision said they hope other companies will follow suit.

“It is heartening to see a corporation such as BP take such a strong stand in response to community outrage,” Melinda Tankard Reist of Women’s Forum Australia told The Daily Telegraph. “We hope this sets a precedent.”