Does the little girl on this magazine cover look 'stunning' or 'sexually provocative'?

This is the front cover of the February issue of Australian family magazine Haven.

Haven is a free magazine that’s distributed in northern NSW and southern QLD. It’s got a circulation of around 15,000 and according to the mag’s Facebook page, it aims to keep parents “in the know with bits of fun, fresh and helpful information that will give them tips and treasures to help embrace raising kids”.

But recently the magazine has found themselves caught in something of a social media storm. In the days since editors posted this image on Facebook, there have been various comments left on the page suggesting that the image is too sexually suggestive.

One commenter said:

“Not a fan, especially with the hair…looks like underwear and bed hair. I think you are very close to a taboo line. It might not be what you were aiming for but that’s how it looks to me.”

Another said:

“I’m sorry as soon as I saw this cover it felt wrong in my guts! This is an image that would be portrayed more by an older model and is not how I would I vision a picture of a child and I did not know it had anything to do with circuses until I read the other comments! It just feels wrong and obviously I’m not the only one that feels this way. I am really concerned about the way the media hypersexulises children.”

And there there was this:

“Disgusting!! I was appalled the moment I saw it! No way I’d let my daughters look at this. A young girl in a suggestive pose & not enough clothes. It’s all in the suggestion…”

Other readers however, have come to the magazine’s defence saying:

“GORGEOUS cover Haven Hub i don’t see anything wrong with the cover, those that do-have issues!!!!! this is a CHILD leaning on a wall in a costume, very tastefully done. theres no body image issues here! Well done!”

The magazine has responded in comments, asking people to keep the debate rational and respectful.

“Thank you for all your comments – positive & negative. We style, photograph and design all our own covers with a huge amount of passion and love each and every month from our crew. We hope you enjoy the read … ”

Speaking to The Gold Coast Bulletin, editor Keeley O’Connor said the cover was never meant to offend:

“We are all parents working on this publication and not one of us during production of this issue saw the cover in a sexual manner,” she said.

“It was in no way meant to be received as inappropriate or provocative, and we are all shocked by the responses. We are sorry for the negative perception in some people’s eyes.”

We’re keen to know what you think. Do you think people are overreacting? Or is the cover sexually suggestive? And what could the magazine have done to make it less so? And how does it compare to these images of children in the media?