Korea: Do the anti-prostitution laws protect sex dolls?


A "doll experience room" is a place punters rent for some W25,000 (approx. USD $26.00) an hour, a fee that includes a bed, a computer, and an inflatable sex doll.

Gyeonggi Provincial Police take a dim view of such operations. "We understand that there are four doll experience operations currently open for business in the city of Suwon," they said. "We are currently looking into whether these businesses violate the law."

Known as a "real doll" or "dirty wife" in the West, the sex toys come in vaguely humanoid shape and have skin that manufacturers say is almost the same to the touch as the real thing. They were introduced to the Korean mainstream at the Sexpo at the Seoul Trade Exhibition Center in August.

After the Special Law on Prostitution went into effect in 2004, the press reported that certain motels were providing the dolls to customers to bridge the gap, but this is the first time establishments dedicated to the experience have sprung up in the city.

Ads looking for others who are interested in running their own sex doll rooms are springing up on the Internet, a development that leads police to suspect that more such establishments exists across the country.

But rubber is rubber and flesh is flesh, so it remains unclear if selling one violates laws against the sale of the other. "Since the sex acts are occurring with a doll and not a human being, it is unclear whether the Special Law on Prostitution applies." a police officer lamented.

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