Thank you for visiting nature. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer. In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript. The review deals with the controversy surrounding the use of highly realistic dolls with a child-like appearance.
It summarizes recent empirical findings and provides an overview of the different legal and ethical perspectives on this issue. Countries use different legal approaches to regulate the use or sale of child-like sex dolls.
Although a causal link is assumed by some legislators between the prohibition of such dolls and the protection of children from sexual abuse, empirical studies do not support this causality. The imposition of bans will hinder empirical research on the potential use of alternative sexual outputs for people with paraphilic disorders.
So called child-like sex dolls , mimicking the bodies of minors, have sparked widespread controversy, extending beyond media exposure to political and scientific discourse.
This heightened attention partly stems from instances where such dolls were discovered with sexual offenders or were temporarily sold by major online retailers [ 1 ]. In some countries, the issue has gained prominence following legal reforms that criminalize the possession and distribution of child-like sex dolls. In this paper, we aim to present various theoretical and moral perspectives, review the scarce empirical data, outline the moral-ethical and legal discussions, and provide an overview of the current situation and future prospects.
