Court ruling rekindles debate on morality of sex dolls

Legislators debate the importation of life-size sex dolls during an annual parliamentary audit of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy at the National Assembly in Seoul on Oct. 18, 2019 photo. Korea Times file

By Bahk Eun-ji

A recent court ruling in favor of importing life-size sex dolls has reignited heated debate here over its possible effects on society.

While importers and supporters say sex dolls should be treated the same as other sex toys on shelves, opponents say the dolls objectify women.

Earlier this month, the Seoul Administrative Court overturned a January 2020 decision by the customs office at Gimpo International Airport to ban the importation of life-size real doll products. The office said the dolls would harm public morals, but the court said the toys are for personal use and do not corrupt morals.

Controversy over sex dolls erupted in June 2019 when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of another doll importer that sued the government customs agency for blocking their imports. The top court stated that the government should not interfere with people's private lives, and using sex dolls was part of that. The customs authorities then allowed imports by the specific company that filed the suit, but have banned those of other companies.

Supporters of the court decision argued that these dolls are nothing more than sex toys.

“A doll is just a doll. It's just a way of fulfilling people's sexual desires,” said a 39-year-old office worker in Seoul, who wished to be identified only by his surname Hwang. “I personally don't understand women who oppose the dolls arguing that they damage human dignity.”

In line with the stance, a petition was filed on the Cheong Wa Dae website, Thursday, calling on customs authorities to stop banning imports of the dolls. The petitioner pointed out that all citizens have the right to privacy and freedom.

“Sexual devices such as life-size sex dolls are used in people's private lives and do not cause any harm to others, but the customs office's decision of disallowing them is clearly an act of invading individual happiness without a convincing reason,” the petitioner wrote.

But women and feminist groups express concerns that sex dolls can harm the dignity of women by promoting their sexual objectification. Some companies offer customized dolls with the faces of specific women or young girls, they say.

“Using a life-size sex doll is dangerous, since they make users feel that all acts, such as buying, selling or controlling women's bodies are possible,” said Seo Seung-hee, the head of the Korea Cyber Sexual Violence Response Center.

“The act of producing replicas of women's bodies and using them at will inevitably desensitizes people to violence against women."

Since the 2019 top court ruling, there have been growing calls for politicians to prepare legal regulations on sex dolls, and some lawmakers proposed bills to punish the production and sale of dolls that look like young girls. But the National Assembly has failed to proceed with related discussions.

Professor Yun Ji-yeong of the Body and Culture Institute at Konkuk University stated in her paper, “Real doll, eroticism of domination” published in October 2019, that there is a difference between sex toys for women and men.

“While a woman wants to focus on what her body feels when using sex toys, men's adult products, such as sex dolls, focus on controlling a woman's body,” Yoon wrote.