Australians Seem to Be Buying a Lot of Child Sex Dolls

The Australian Border Force has intercepted a number of the illegal products at the border in recent months

illegal child sex dolls
It's been illegal to buy or sell child sex dolls in Australia since 2019, but they keep showing up at the border.
Collective Shout

Things are getting pretty weird over at the Australian border, where officials have reportedly confiscated a distressing number of packages containing childlike sex dolls.

According to a report from Australian outlet news.com.au, the nation’s border force has found 31 of these products in air cargo in the first six months of 2020.

But more distressing than the mere amount of child sex dolls intercepted is the fact that such a product exists in the first place. It’s been illegal to buy, own or sell childlike dolls in Australia since September 2019. “Australian Border Force [ABF] officers at our air cargo and mail facilities are actively targeting these dolls, which are a prohibited import and are considered child abuse material,” said a spokesperson for the Australian Border Force. Perpetrators can be charged with importing Tier 2 goods, which can carry a prison sentence of 10 years and/or fines of up to $250,000.

And yet, somehow these disturbing products are still making the rounds. Earlier this month, Australian anti-sexual exploitation organization Collective Shout called out online retailer Alibaba for selling childlike sex dolls marketed with descriptions like “small breast” and “young girl.” Fortunately, Alibaba vowed to remove all such products from its online store shortly after Collective Shout raised the alarm.

Apparently, however, some of these dolls are still making their way to Australia, where officials are working to figure out who might be behind these purchases.

Amid an ongoing cultural reckoning with an epidemic of sexual exploitation of underage girls in society, news that these products even exist, let alone that there is a demand for them, is distressing to say the least.

“I’ve been an activist with Collective Shout for 10 years and this is the most disturbing content I’ve seen,” media spokeswoman Melinda Liszewski wrote of the Alibaba dolls in a statement earlier this month. “It is deeply distressing to view.”

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