Shein, Temu face more pressure after claims pleas on sex dolls were 'ignored'
Warning: This story contains details of child sexual abuse.
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.
The dolls — depicting little girls as small as 60 centimetres tall and roughly the same weight as a child — have been sold on the two Chinese-based marketplaces in Australia for more than a year.
On Wednesday, Shein claimed the company removed the illegal dolls as soon as they became aware of them.
"Shein 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.
"We take this matter extremely seriously."
But Collective Shout (CS) campaigner Caitlin Roper said CS exposed the listings of the dolls in September last year.
"We [CS] approached the company with our concerns — but were ignored," she said.
"It is clear that corporates like Shein will only act ethically when compelled to do so."
The ABC has seen emails and messages sent by CS campaigners to a senior Shein employer.
Child sex abuse dolls sold in Australia
Two weeks ago, the ABC reported the two retailers were selling child sex abuse doll torsos and disembodied heads in Australia.
On some listings, the heads were advertised as "adult" hairdressing and make-up mannequins in what campaigners said was a bid to get around Australian laws.
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.
"Listings that violate our policies are removed as soon as they are detected, and we continuously strengthen our systems to prevent them from appearing," the spokesperson said.
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.
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.
On Thursday, the ABC asked the Attorney-General's office what measures Child Safety took after being notified of the dolls in September.
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."
"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."
France's probe into childlike sex dolls
On Wednesday, France suspended access to Shein's website and launched an investigation into Temu following public outrage over the sale of the dolls.
Shortly after, the French government urged the European Union to take similar action and sanction Shein for breaching European regulations.
Shein banned the sale of sex dolls on its site globally after France threatened to block the Chinese fast-fashion retailer from the French market on Monday.
Shein pulled the dolls from its website on Sunday, and the following day suspended the "adult products" category from the platform.
Shein said it had sanctioned the sellers and that it was prepared to share the names of people who have bought such dolls.
The Paris prosecutor's office said it had opened investigations against Shein, and also rival online retailers Temu, AliExpress and Wish, over alleged dissemination of content including child pornography on their marketplaces, the Paris prosecutor's office said.
A Temu spokesperson said that accusations against the company were connected to minors accessing certain products on its platform, and not the sale of childlike sex dolls.
Temu has since delisted all sex dolls from its platform.
The probes were for distributing "messages that are violent, pornographic or improper, and accessible to minors", the office said.
The investigations were launched after France's anti-fraud unit reported the platform for selling illegal products on Saturday, after receiving an anonymous tip.
The fight with Shein came just as the company planned to open its first-ever permanent shop in Paris on Wednesday.
Shein says it has a "zero-tolerance stance toward child sexual exploitation".
"We have taken immediate corrective actions and are reinforcing our internal controls to prevent this from happening again," a Shein spokesperson said.
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