UK - Outcry Forced Amazon to Stop Selling Child Sex Dolls Online

A BBC investigation found Amazon was selling sex dolls on its website causing an outcry from many who oppose such item being sold from the said site. Amazon was forced to pull out such items. Now, England’s Children’s Commission is demanding that Amazon should ensure that “disgusting” child sex dolls will not be restored for sale on its website.

England Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield said: “These dolls are disgusting and are clearly meant to look like children.” She said she is not only demanding that Amazon remove the products from their platform, but to also explain why there are there in the first place. She also said guarantees must be given that the items cannot be reloaded after being taken down.

Longfield added: “Such dolls are clearly built for one purpose and that purpose is a clear danger to the safety of real children.”

Close to a dozen child sex dolls were discovered for sale on Amazon Marketplace. The BBC contacted the site about one doll, and the site promptly removed it online. However, three days after the same doll was back for sale online.

Amazon said it has removed all such products. It said further in a statement: “All Marketplace sellers must follow our selling guidelines and those who don’t will be subject to action including potential removal of their account. The products in question are no longer available.”

Amazon Marketplace is an area of the retailing website giant where they allow third-party businesses to sell products. Amazon does not sell the products itself but gets a share of the money from the sellers.

The dolls found on the site were seen in sexual poses with such descriptions as “Mannequin Sexy” and “100% mimics girl’s body.”

A judge ruled in Jul 2017 in UK that child sex dolls were obscene items and as such are covered by the 1970 Customs and Excise Management Act. The strange thing is that it is not a criminal offense to manufacture or possess a child sex doll in the country, but individuals can be charged with importing them.

Charity group NSPCC has issued a warning saying that the use of the dolls can lead people to harm children as people using them may become desensitized and their behavior could become “normalized” to them that they may go on to harm children.

Source:

www.bbc.com/news/uk-43715680