France begins process to suspend Shein for selling sex dolls
The platform expressed a desire to quickly initiate a dialogue with the French authorities “to respond to the concerns raised and present the measures already implemented to protect French consumers”.
At the same time, Shein announced the suspension of its “marketplace” in France, following the scandal involving the sale of child-like sex dolls. The online sale, identified by the General Directorate of Fraud Repression, led to the opening of a judicial investigation. Shein said it has since banned this type of product.
The company said it made this decision “due to concerns related to certain publications made by independent third-party vendors” and “independently” of the government’s decision.
“These dolls, as if by chance, just appeared, but that didn’t stop me from coming,” said another customer, Fatima Mriouch, a 48-year-old educator, who attended the store’s opening “out of curiosity.” She considers that “it is not just Shein” responsible for the environmental and social problems of the global textile sector.
The turnaround happened just hours after the opening, at 1pm, of Shein’s first physical store, on the sixth floor of BHV, the traditional department store in the center of Paris.
Frédéric Merlin, president of the Society of Department Stores (SGM), owner of BHV since 2023, told the press that he was “satisfied” with the suspension of the “marketplace”. “I hope we can finally stop selling illicit products on these platforms,” he said.
