Some men used the threat of purchasing a sex doll to coerce their wives into unwanted sex. Others introduced a doll as a ‘baby step’ to get their reluctant wife to agree to a threesome. 

Sex dolls made in the likeness of specific women and girls

Sex dolls are also being made in the likeness of specific women without their knowledge. One woman learned of the sex doll made in her likeness and given her name after the manufacturer posted a link to her Instagram account identifying her. Another learned about a sex doll made to look like her after the man who created it sent her a message on Instagram, along with photos, describing just how much he enjoyed using it. She became physically ill. 

Doll manufacturers receive requests from male customers for dolls made in the likeness of women known to them – their mate’s girlfriend, their next-door neighbour, or a woman they have a crush on.

With technological advancements, including virtual reality and deepfakes (where one person’s likeness can digitally be superimposed over another’s), the ways in which women can be harmed through sex doll technology are constantly growing. 

Unfortunately, even children are fair game in the global trade in sex dolls. Dolls modelled on the bodies of little girls, toddlers and infants marketed for men’s sexual use are a growing threat to girls. 

These, too, can be made in the likeness of a specific child. It’s already happening. 

A male buyer can submit a photo of a little girl, and a doll with a penetrable vagina, mouth and anus will be made in her likeness. 

While child sex abuse dolls are illegal in Australia, Australian Border Force has reported a 653 per cent increase in detections of child sex abuse dolls over the last two years.

As a culture, we need to decide what we value, and where our priorities truly lie. Do we endorse men’s sexual entitlement or the human rights of women and girls? It can’t be both. 

Caitlin Roper is an activist, writer and Campaigns Manager at Collective Shout: for a world free of sexploitation, a grassroots campaigning movement against the objectification of women and sexualisation of girls in media, advertising and popular culture. Her book Sex Dolls, Robots and Woman Hating: The Case for Resistance is out now from Spinifex Press

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