Groups say 'porn' like features of dolls create 'degrading attitude to women'

Men encouraged to treat women's bodies as objects after using robots say group

Use of dolls and robots thought to encourage men to act out violent fantasies

threat to the safety of women as they can't say 'no', say feminists

Feminist groups in Sweden have called for a ban on 'dangerous' sex robots because they encourage men to treat women's bodies as objects and could lead to violence against real women and girls.

Sweden's Women's Lobby, the National Organisation for Women's Shelters and Young Women's Shelters have made a joint appeal in Swedish Newspaper Expressen, for the robots to be banned as they 'dehumanise' women.

The groups believe that the increasingly lifelike dolls and robots are posing a threat to the safety of women as they are not programmed with the ability to say 'no' to men's demands.

Nanotechnology engineer holds the head of Samantha, a sex doll packed with artificial intelligence providing her the capability to respond to different scenarios and verbal stimulus

A spokesman for the groups said: 'Why are men willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars for a robot that obeys their smallest command?'

Adding: 'A female robot cannot say no to something that the man wants, if she is not programmed to do so.'

The feminists said that the dolls allowed users to play out their violent fantasies, leading them to believe such things are possible with real women.

With the dolls often having 'pornography' like physical features the groups argue that they may be contributing to a 'sexualised and degrading attitude to women'.

The groups said: '[The dolls have] appearances and attributes typical of the objectifying, sexualised and degrading attitude to women found in today's mainstream pornography.'

A realistic silicone sex dolls weighs around 40 kilos due to its lightweight aluminium structure and takes a week to construct

Using new technology to create lifelike 'women' in doll and robot form is justifying slavery by dehumanising women, claimed the groups.

Demands for an inquiry to be held into 'how technology and activities that normalise abuse can be restricted and prohibited' have been put forward by the feminists.

With automated brothels, with no human prostitutes, now open in neighbouring Denmark and Finland, the feminist groups have called for Swedish authorities to make it hard for the brothels to open.

Sweden has had a government that puts focus on women's rights since 2014 and 'has for 20 years had a regulatory framework that punished sex buyers and which has reduced the demand for prostitution', say the groups.

Adding: 'Now, Sweden must take the next step and dare to address the ongoing technological developments that are driven by the sex industry at the expense of real women and girls.'

In a last demand the feminists asked that children be taught about sex dolls in sex education and that the dangerous relationship between power and sexuality should be explained.