Editing Sex toy (section)

==Legal issues==

===India===
Sex toys are illegal in India.<ref name ="singh2007">Singh, Jyotsna (20 June 2007). [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6221540.stm India rattled by vibrating condom.] [[BBC News]]</ref> Selling sex toys is a punishable offense under section 292 of the Indian penal code, as sex toys are considered an "obscene" product. Besides sex toys, any book, pamphlet, paper, writing, drawing, painting, representation, figure or any other object, is also considered obscene by section 292 if it is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Big-market-for-sex-toys-despite-ban/articleshow/2164155.cms|title=Big market for sex toys despite ban|author=Rati Chaudhary|date=1 July 2007|work=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref> The punishment for the offense is up to two years in prison.<ref name ="timesindia">Staff report (February 2, 2011). [https://web.archive.org/web/20110912201055/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-02-02/rajkot/28365014_1_toys-sushil-dalshaniya-inflatable-latex-dolls Sex toys recovered from shop in Rajkot.] ''[[Times of India]]''</ref><ref name="indiatoday">{{cite news|title=Who buys the most number of sex toys in India? Punjabi women|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/sex-toys-survey-thatspeople-punjabi-women-condoms-lubricants-lifest/1/1022828.html|access-date=12 September 2017|publisher=IndiaToday|date=August 10, 2017}}</ref>

===Japan===
In [[Japan]], many [[dildo]]s are created to resemble animals or cartoon characters, such as [[Hello Kitty]], rabbits or dolphins, so that they may be sold as toys, thus avoiding [[obscenity|obscenity laws]].{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}

===Malaysia===
In [[Malaysia]], the sale and importation of sex toys is illegal.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Chin|first1=Christina|title=Shop online but don't break the law|url=http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013/07/28/Shop-online-but-dont-break-the-law/|access-date=17 October 2014|work=The Star (Malaysia)|date=28 July 2013}}</ref>

===South Africa===
Section 18A of the [[Sexual Offences Act, 1957|Sexual Offenses Act, 1957]], inserted by the [[Immorality Amendment Act, 1969]], prohibited the manufacture or sale of any item "intended to be used to perform an unnatural sexual act". The term "unnatural sexual act" referred to any sex other than vaginal heterosexual sex, and this prohibition was ostensibly aimed at preventing the use of dildos by [[lesbian]]s.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Kevan |last1=Botha |first2=Edwin |last2=Cameron |author-link2=Edwin Cameron |editor1-first=Donald J. |editor1-last=West |editor2-first=Richard |editor2-last=Green |title=Sociolegal Control of Homosexuality: A Multi-Nation Comparison |url=https://archive.org/details/sociolegalcontro00west |url-access=limited |chapter=South Africa |year=1997 |publisher=Plenum Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-306-45532-2 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/sociolegalcontro00west/page/n40 22]–23}}</ref> No longer enforced, the section was repealed by the [[Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, 2007]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act 32 of 2007 {{!}} South African Government |url=https://www.gov.za/documents/criminal-law-sexual-offences-and-related-matters-amendment-act |access-date=2024-10-18 |website=www.gov.za}}</ref>

===United States===
{{see also|Anti-Obscenity Enforcement Act|Texas obscenity statute}}
Sex toys and lubricants have become increasingly available in major commercial outlets in the United States. On-shelf displays tend to be more discreet than the offerings on web sites. These items tend to be displayed in the "sexual health" sections of stores.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/110965|title=Sex Aids on Retail Shelves|website=[[Newsweek]]|date=13 February 2008|access-date=18 August 2016}}</ref>

Until recently, many [[U.S. Southern states|Southern]] and some [[Great Plains|Great Plains states]] banned the sale of sex toys completely, either directly or through laws regulating "obscene devices".<ref>{{cite web | title = Lingere Store Accused of Violating State Obscenity Laws | publisher = KBCD.com | url = http://www.kcbd.com/Global/story.asp?S=6554592&pass=1&nav=3w6y | access-date = 2007-09-28 | archive-date = 2015-07-04 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150704134651/http://www.kcbd.com/Global/story.asp?S=6554592&pass=1&nav=3w6y | url-status = dead }}</ref> In 1999, [[William H. Pryor, Jr.]], an assistant attorney general in [[Alabama]] commenting on a case involving sex toys and discussing to what end the devices are used, was quoted as saying there is no "fundamental right for a person to buy a device to produce [[orgasm]]". A federal appeals court upheld Alabama's law prohibiting the sale of sex toys on Valentine's Day, 2007.<ref>Rawls, Phillip. [https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-10-01-2390404063_x.htm Court leaves Ala. sex toy ban intact], USA Today, Oct 1, 2007</ref>

In February 2008, a federal appeals court overturned a [[Texas]] statute banning the sales of sex toys, deeming such a statute as violating the Constitution's 14th Amendment on the right to privacy.<ref>{{cite web| title = Appeals court overturns Texas ban on sex toys | date = 14 February 2008 | publisher = NBC News | url = https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna23155562 | access-date = 2008-02-14 }}</ref> The appeals court cited ''[[Lawrence v. Texas]]'', where the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] in 2003 struck down bans on consensual sex between gay couples, as unconstitutionally aiming at "enforcing a public moral code by restricting private intimate conduct".  Similar statutes have been struck down in [[Kansas]] and [[Colorado]].

[[Marty Klein]], author of ''America's War on Sex'' and an advocate for the moral value of sex toys, has described the sex toy bans as a form of [[erotophobia]] and [[genophobia]], claiming the "extraordinary erosion of personal liberty, coupled with the massive disrespect of and fear of sexuality is no joke" and that the "Supreme Court [of the United States] has declared our orgasms a battlefield, and sex toys another casualty."<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Holthouse|first=David|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091005085548/http://www.damemagazine.com/features/f261/AlabamavsDildos.php?Page=2|url=http://www.damemagazine.com/features/f261/AlabamavsDildos.php?Page=2|archive-date=5 October 2009|title=Alabama vs. Dildos: Attorney General Troy King stands hard against stimulators|magazine=Dame Magazine|access-date=7 June 2017}}</ref>

===Zimbabwe===
A portion of the "censorship and entertainments control" law in [[Zimbabwe]] illegalizes the possession and importation of sex toys, because they are considered "obscene" or "indecent", and harmful to public morals.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/sex-toy-ban-zimbabwe-women-rights-f58681e4e19973500204706e6735e7f9|title=A law that bans sex toys as obscene and morally harmful is being challenged by women in Zimbabwe|date=June 25, 2023|website=AP News}}</ref> Being in possession of a sex toy or other prohibited and indecent material can result in a fine (maximum level 6 or US$300<ref>{{Cite web |title=Zimbabwe Revenue Authority |url=https://www.zimra.co.zw/news/2179:offences-and-standard-scale-of-fines |access-date=2024-11-01 |website=www.zimra.co.zw}}</ref>) and/or imprisonment not exceeding one year.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://zimlii.org/akn/zw/act/1967/37/eng@2016-12-31#part_VIII__sec_26 |title=Censorship and Entertainments Control Act |date=2016-12-31 |language=en}}</ref>