Warning: This story contains details of child sexual abuse.<\/p>\n
Temu and Shein are under increasing pressure to explain how child sex abuse dolls were sold worldwide on their multi-billion-dollar platforms following international outrage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sexual assault\u00a0support lines:<\/p>\n
The dolls \u2014 depicting little girls as small as 60 centimetres tall and roughly the same weight as a child \u2014 have been sold on the two Chinese-based marketplaces in Australia for more than a year.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Shein claimed the company removed the illegal dolls as soon as they became aware of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cShein confirms that the products in question were immediately delisted as soon as we became aware of these issues,” a Shein spokesperson in Australia told the ABC.<\/p>\n
“We take this matter extremely seriously.”<\/p>\n
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A screenshot of a child sex abuse doll on Shein in September this year.\u00a0 (ABC: Supplied)<\/p>\n
But Collective Shout (CS) campaigner Caitlin Roper said CS exposed the listings of the dolls<\/a> in September last year.<\/p>\n “We [CS] approached the company with our concerns \u2014 but were ignored,” she said.<\/p>\n “It is clear that corporates like Shein will only act ethically when compelled to do so.”<\/p>\n The ABC has seen emails and messages sent by CS campaigners to a senior Shein employer.\u00a0<\/p>\n Child sex abuse dolls sold in Australia<\/p>\n Two weeks ago, the ABC reported the two retailers for selling child sex abuse doll torsos<\/a> and disembodied heads in Australia.<\/p>\n On some listings, the heads were advertised as \u201cadult\u201d hairdressing and make-up mannequins in what campaigners said was a bid to get around Australian laws.<\/p>\n A child-like sex doll head advertised as a mannequin on Shein’s website before it was delisted.\u00a0 (ABC: Supplied)<\/p>\n A Temu spokesperson in Australia told the ABC on Thursday that the platform did not allow the sale of childlike sex dolls or similar items.<\/p>\n \u201cListings that violate our policies are removed as soon as they are detected, and we continuously strengthen our systems to prevent them from appearing,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n Two months ago, the ABC asked the Attorney-General’s Department if it was aware that Temu and Shein were advertising the illegal dolls online.<\/p>\n Temu and Shein sell headless child sex abuse dolls <\/a><\/p>\n Child sexual abuse doll heads are being sold on Temu as hairdressing model mannequins to harness a legal loophole, according to experts who say it is part of an “unhealthy culture”.<\/p>\n A spokesperson replied with an email outlining the law, but did not respond to the ABC’s questions on whether they were aware of the illegal listings.\u00a0<\/p>\n On Thursday, the ABC asked the Attorney-General’s office what measures Child Safety took after being notified of the dolls in September.\u00a0<\/p>\n They did not answer the specific question, stating only: “The National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021-2030 (National Strategy) is a nationally coordinated, strategic framework for preventing and responding to child sexual abuse in all settings.”\u00a0<\/p>\n “The National Office for Child Safety is in the process of developing the Second Action Plan under the National Strategy, which will build on the foundations laid by the First Action Plans and respond to emerging issues.”<\/p>\n France’s probe into childlike sex dolls<\/p>\n<\/p>\n