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Agence France-Presse

No one sells them openly, no one admits to owning one, and no one has been arrested – but Zambia is waging a fierce campaign against sex dolls.
The government launched the crackdown on the sex toys last month, threatening offenders with heavy jail terms over the dolls which, it says, are “very unnatural”.
The action has propelled the issue of sex dolls to the top of the news agenda and made them a hot topic of conversation and debate on social media, dividing opinion in the largely conservative southern African country.
“Being a Christian nation, obviously we are anchored in Christian principles and one of the values is morality and ethics,” said Minister of National Guidance and Religious Affairs Godfridah Sumaili.
‘Chinese sex doll invasion’ triggers raid - but rumour may have been over-inflated
Selling or using a sex doll is against Zambian law, she said, vowing to ensure they are not bought on the internet and imported.
God created man and woman for sexual satisfaction – but for a man or woman to use a lifeless object is immoral
Godfridah Sumaili, Zambia’s Minister of National Guidance and Religious Affairs
“The use of sex dolls is definitely in contradiction to our natural heritage and our principles,” Sumaili added.
“The law actually forbids anybody to trade (in) and to use such objects – and so this is why we are saying for Zambians that this is a very unnatural thing.”
The minister said the ban was necessary after media reports emerged of sex dolls being imported into Zambia, apparently from Asia. Police are investigating, she added.
In recent months, Zambia’s independent and semi-official press have devoted many column inches to reports of sex shops popping up around the capital Lusaka selling sex dolls, as well as chronicling the backlash.
“God created man and woman for sexual satisfaction – but for a man or woman to use a lifeless object is immoral,” Sumaili said.
“Let’s not import foreign beliefs and experiences. Let us just believe in what we are.”
Chinese sex doll sharing service suspended
The manufacture of sex dolls has become increasingly sophisticated, with China developing custom-made “smart” dolls that can talk, play music and turn on dishwashers.
Sex dolls’ inventors say they can cure loneliness and help elderly men who lack female companionship.
In Zambia, the dolls made of silicone were reportedly in a variety of shapes and shades, but a reporter failed to find any shops selling them.
The Patriots for Economic Progress (PEP) – a fringe liberal party in Zambia – claims the government’s attitude to sex dolls reflects its increasingly authoritarian tendencies under President Edgar Lungu.
“The argument that the Bible does not allow the use of any objects is wrong,” said PEP party chief Sean Tembo.
“The same Bible encourages free will and it will be wrong to send someone to prison for choosing to use sex dolls. Some men have low self-esteem and cannot propose love.”
Tembo said sex dolls could even tackle the spread of HIV/Aids – in a country with a 12.4 per cent adult infection rate.
“Men can use sex dolls and this will help reduce the cases of Aids,” he said, contesting the minister’s claim they were illegal.
“There is no law that bans the importation or use of sex dolls and there is no law that criminalises masturbation. The use of sex dolls will be in private, in one’s bedroom and not in a public place.”
Zambia is a largely conservative nation, where homosexuality is illegal and anyone in an intimate same-sex relationship faces up to 14 years in jail.
Officials say that sex dolls fall under a constitutional law against making, owning, importing, selling or displaying “obscene matters or things” – punishable with a maximum prison term of five years.
No shops openly sell them in Zambia, though they are available from international internet suppliers.
The state-owned Zambia Daily Mail reported Sumaili’s campaign and later ran a feature on how the policy was a constant talking point on public minibuses.
“I would order a sex doll without hesitation,” the newspaper quoted one unidentified male passenger as saying.
“I am assured of a disease-free relationship because a sex doll will not cheat on me. They are not materialistic and will forever remain faithful.
“Government is now violating our privacy as citizens,” he said.
Lusaka resident, Jane Kaluba, 25, said that sex dolls were a test of how best to balance morality with individual rights.
“I don’t support the use of sex dolls but I still feel that one should be free to choose what one wants,” she said.


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‘Unnatural, immoral, foreign’: controversy blows up over sex dolls in Zambia

‘The use of sex dolls is definitely in contradiction to our natural heritage and our principles’

epa06171701 A Chinese exhibitor displays a latex sex doll at the Asia Adult Expo 2017 in Hong Kong, China, 30 August 2017. Now in its tenth year, the Asia Adult Expo runs from 29 to 31 August and hosts sex toy exhibitors from 34 countries and regions around the world. EPA/ALEX HOFFORD

An inflatable sex doll is posed in a sex shop in the city centre of Cape Town, South Africa. In Zambia, authorities are waging a fierce campaign against sex dolls, describing them as “very unnatural”. Photo: Agence France-Presse

'It's better than cheating on my wife': Sex dolls fulfil the needs of China's lonely men

A high-end sex doll on display at the Micdolls store in Beijing. They are made of thermoplastic elastomer, a rubbery material softer than silicone, with adjustable parts. Photo: AFP

Sex toys on display during the Asia Adult Expo (AAE) at the Venetian Convention Centre in Macau. Photo: Felix Wong

Visitors look at life size dolls at the China Adult-Care Expo in Shanghai in 2012. Economic reforms in China have brought the country more sexual freedom, and a plethora of sex shops. Photo: EPA

Married car designer Liu keeps his high-end sex doll in his apartment in Beijing. Then he goes home to his wife and child in neighbouring Hebei at weekends. Photo: AFP

A salesman positions the head of a Micdolls sex doll in Beijing.  Economic reforms in China have brought the country more sexual freedom, and a plethora of sex shops. Photo: AFP

Chinese company offers young men inflatable sex dolls as annual staff bonus instead of cash

No Caption Available.

Staff at Chinese internet firm Lianlian are told how to use an inflatable sex doll, given to young men working for the company instead of a tradition cash bonus, at Sunday’s company annual conference. Photo: Guangming Daily

Chinese e-commerce site removes paedophiliac sex doll after outrage

A photo advertising a childlike sex doll. Screenshot via DHgate. 

A photo advertising a childlike sex doll. Screenshot via Taobao.

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Sex dolls on display during the Asia Adult Expo at the Venetian Convention Centre in Macau in 2011. Photo: SCMP Picture

A man and his sex doll at his apartment in an industrial suburb of Beijing. Photo: AFP

News

World

‘The use of sex dolls is definitely in contradiction to our natural heritage and our principles’


‘Unnatural, immoral, foreign’: controversy blows up over sex dolls in Zambia

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}‘The use of sex dolls is definitely in contradiction to our natural heritage and our principles’

‘The use of sex dolls is definitely in contradiction to our natural heritage and our principles’