Sweden’s government summons Amazon over childlike sex dolls
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Swedish child rights’ organisation ChildX filed a police report against Amazon on Nov 10.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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- Sweden summoned Amazon and other e-commerce sites to a meeting on 28 Nov regarding the sale of childlike sex dolls.
- Child rights organisation ChildX filed a police report against Amazon, claiming sales of the dolls could violate child sexual exploitation laws.
- Amazon stated it would attend the meeting and removed the flagged products, while ChildX demands more responsibility regarding items sold.
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STOCKHOLM - The Swedish government on Nov 12 said it had summoned Amazon and several other e-commerce sites to a meeting over the sale of childlike sex dolls on their platforms.
Swedish child rights’ organisation ChildX on Nov 10 filed a police report against Amazon, including all of its various national sites, as well as two other sites selling the dolls in Sweden, saying the sales could fall foul of child sexual exploitation laws.
It said the sale of such products on global marketplaces risked normalising the sexual abuse of children and increasing demand for exploitative material.
Sweden’s Minister for Social Services on Nov 12 called the e-commerce sites as well as children’s rights organisations and other authorities to a meeting on Nov 28 to discuss how to tackle the problem.
“We must collectively explore the possibilities to stop the existence of these” dolls, Minister of Social Services Camilla Waltersson Gronvall said in a statement.
Amazon told AFP it would attend the meeting, and said it had taken down the products that had been flagged.
“We have strict policies and guidelines in the segment of adult products and we have always strictly prohibited child pornography,” an Amazon spokesperson said.
ChildX demanded Amazon take more responsibility for the products sold on its platforms.
“By taking down the ads, Amazon has admitted there is a problem and that there are serious shortcomings,” ChildX secretary-general Ida Ostensson told AFP.
“They were already criticised in 2018, but the dolls went back up for sale three days later. We demand they take responsibility,” she said.
Under Swedish law, the distribution and possession of child sex images is illegal, as is possession of childlike sex dolls.
The sale of such dolls should also be illegal, according to ChildX, but has never been tested in court.
Controversy has recently swirled over the sale of such dolls, with Chinese digital platform Shein recently banning them from sale
