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Legislator decries sale of suggestive toys to children

As toy vending machines are carrying more sexually suggestive items inappropriate for children, laws should be mapped out to keep minors from accessing them, a legislator said yesterday.

Toy models that come in little plastic "eggs" can be bought for roughly NT$50 from small vending machines in night markets, in Ximending or even online.

According to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiang Lien-fu (江連福), the sexually suggestive toys depict scantily clad voluptuous women or nude schoolgirls, and can easily be bought by children under 18 and taken to school. This causes children to have misperceptions about sex, Chiang said.

Chiang said that laws should be passed to ensure that "R-rated" toys are not sold in places where children can easily buy them.

Yang Chang-yu (楊昌裕), deputy director of the Department of Elementary Education at the education ministry, said that until laws are established on the vending of these toys, teachers should start by educating students about gender equality and how these toy models wrongly portray women.

"We want a healthy environment for our children so we must prevent them from obtaining these toys. Parents should pay attention to whether their children have these toys, and vending machines selling them should not be placed near schools," Yang said at a press conference held by Chiang to address the issue.

Chen Kun-huang (陳坤皇), chief-secretary of the Child Welfare Bureau at the interior ministry, said that according to the Children's Welfare Law (兒童福利法), vendors who sell sexually suggestive or sex-related toys to children under 18 are subject to a fine of NT$6000 to NT$30,000.
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