View source for Sex shop

{{Short description|Retailer of adult erotic entertainment products}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2011}}
[[File:Sex-shops-on-boulevard-de-clichi.jpg|thumb|Sex shops on [[Boulevard de Clichy]], Paris, France]]

A '''sex shop'''  is a [[retailer]] that sells products related to adult sexual or erotic entertainment, such as [[sex toys]], [[lingerie]], [[pornography]], and other related products. 

An early precursor of the modern sex shop was a chain of stores set up in Paris in the 1920s by Léon Vidal, the founder of the lingerie manufacturing company [[Diana Slip]]. His shops sold erotic books and photographs as well as lingerie.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dupouy |first1=Alexandre Dupouy |title=City of Pleasure: Paris Between the Wars |date=2019 |publisher=Korero Press |isbn=9781912740055 |page=84 |url=https://www.koreropress.com/city-of-pleasure-paris-between-the-wars/}}</ref> 

[[Beate Uhse AG]] opened a sex shop in 1962 in [[Flensburg]], [[West Germany]], and it has been described as the world's first "official" sex shop. Sex shops can now be found in many countries and online. Sex shops are part of the [[sex industry]]. In most jurisdictions, sex shops are regulated by law, with access not legally permitted to [[Minor (law)|minors]], the age depending on local law. Some jurisdictions prohibit sex shops and the merchandise they sell. In some jurisdictions that permit it, they may also show pornographic movies in [[Adult video arcade|private video booths]], or have private [[striptease]] or [[peep show]]s. An [[adult movie theater]] may be attached. There are also many online sex shops selling a variety of adult content such as sex toys, [[pornographic magazine]]s, [[pornographic film]]s and [[fetish wear]] etc. These types of shop are often favoured by the consumer as they have less overheads and can be perused within the comfort of the home. Their discreetness is also appealing to some.<ref name="The independent">{{cite news|title=Par Femme: The Coolest Women's Sex Shop on the Internet|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/par-femme-sex-shop-for-women-selling-bras-lingerie-toys-coolest-on-the-internet-a7630086.html|access-date=12 September 2017|newspaper=The independent|date=15 March 2017|author=Kashmira Gander}}</ref>

==Terminology==
Sex shops may also be called '''adult shop''', '''adult store''', '''erotic shop''', '''porn shop''', '''adult entertainment store''', or '''adult book store'''. In some jurisdictions, polite euphemisms are used such as "marital aid store" or "adult novelties store".

== History ==

=== Australia ===
In the 1960s, American military personnel spending [[R&R (military)|rest and recreation]] time in the [[Kings Cross, New South Wales|Kings Cross]] area of [[Sydney]] led to a proliferation of sex shops in the area.<ref>{{cite web|title=King's Cross: bohemian life In Sydney|url=https://mhnsw.au/stories/general/kings-cross-bohemian-life-sydney/|website=Museums of History NSW|date=5 December 2022 |access-date=3 June 2025}}</ref> The development of sex shops in the country was assisted by the legalisation of the import of pornographic magazines in 1971, the appearance of mass-produced battery-powered vibrators in the 1970s and the arrival of [[X-rated]] videos in the 1980s. The popularity of [[Internet pornography]] in the 2000s resulted in a drop in sex shop sales, some store closures and diversification into non-sex-related adult goods.<ref>{{cite report|title=Are mainstream sales of vibrators threatening the viability of traditional adult shops?|url=http://www.eros.org.au/wp-content/uploads/download-manager-files/Green%20Paper%20on%20the%20Future%20of%20Adult%20Retail%20(FINAL).pdf|publisher=The Eros Association Inc|access-date=3 October 2017|archive-date=13 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313152330/http://www.eros.org.au/wp-content/uploads/download-manager-files/Green%20Paper%20on%20the%20Future%20of%20Adult%20Retail%20(FINAL).pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Sex shops in Australia are regulated by state laws and are subject to local planning controls. While laws differ between states, licensees must abide by strict conditions that commonly require premises to be at least 200 metres from schools and churches. Windows are often required to be blacked out and admission restricted to over 18s, with offences prosecuted by police under section 578E of the Crimes Act.<ref name=Duff>{{Cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/national/charge-supermarkets-for-toy-sales-sex-lobby-20131005-2v0v2.html|title=Charge supermarkets for toy sales: sex lobby|author=Eamonn Duff|date=6 October 2013|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=2016-03-04}}</ref>

Under the laws of the state of [[New South Wales]] (NSW), non-contraceptive sex products can be sold only in shops that have been granted a restricted premise licence by local councils. Nevertheless, by 2013, a number of NSW lingerie stores had begun selling adult toys and books in shopping malls without being granted a licence.<ref name=Duff />

=== China ===
[[File:爱晴朗甜蜜の情趣馆 （20250503）.jpg|thumb|A sex shop in [[Dongguan]], China]]
Mainland China's first sex shop opened in Beijing in 1993<ref>{{cite news|title=China is world's biggest sex toy producer|url=https://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest+News/Asia/Story/A1Story20100711-226332.html|website=Asia One|date=11 July 2010}}</ref> and by 2013, there were over 2,000 sex shops in the city. Most of their products were made in China.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=The Atlantic|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/06/sex-and-the-law-in-china-the-people-will-pull-and-the-government-will-follow/276610/|title= Sex and the Law in China: 'The People Will Pull, and the Government Will Follow'|date=6 June 2013|author=Kin Wall}}</ref>

=== Canada ===
The first sex shop in North America was called The Garden. It was opened in October 1971 by Ivor Sargent on [[Crescent Street]] in downtown [[Montreal]], Quebec. The Garden combined the concepts used by [[Beate Uhse]] in Germany and [[Ann Summers]] in the UK.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&amp;dat=19711119&amp;id=H0EjAAAAIBAJ&amp;sjid=36EFAAAAIBAJ&amp;pg=7107,3485504|title=First sex boutique opens in Montreal|newspaper=The Montreal Gazette|date=19 November 1971}}</ref> The store's opening attracted long lines of shoppers. The [[Palm Beach Post]] commented: "Like the chicken or the egg controversy, no one is really sure which came first-the sex boutique or the so-called [[sexual revolution]]".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1964&dat=19720322&id=q4MyAAAAIBAJ&pg=967,1844124|title=The Sexual Revolution Hits the Boutique|page=16|newspaper=The Palm Beach Post|date=22 March 1972}}{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Although the age of consent is 16 in Canada,<ref>{{cite web|title=Age of Consent to Sexual Activity|url=https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/other-autre/clp/faq.html|website=Government of Canada|access-date=26 September 2025}}</ref> an age of 18+ is required to view<ref>{{cite web|title=Understanding Pornography Laws Canada: What You Need To Know|url=https://armouredsuits.ca/frequently-asked-questions-about-porn-laws-in-ontario-canada/|date=August 2024|website=Armoured Suits}}</ref> or purchase pornography.<ref>{{cite news|title=Why a proposed bill aiming to prevent kids from accessing porn sites is raising privacy concerns|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/porn-site-age-verification-proposed-bill-1.7060841|website=CBC News|date=16 December 2023|first=Mark|last=Gollom}}</ref> There are no specific laws against using or buying sex toys at any particular age. However, most sex shops sell adult videos, which means that most sex toys are on sale only to adults.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}

=== Germany ===
[[File:GÜST Wartha Rasthaus shop.jpg|thumb|Sex shop at a former [[inner German border#Crossing points|checkpoint]] on the [[Iron Curtain#German Democratic Republic|Iron Curtain]] ]]
[[Beate Uhse-Rotermund]] started selling contraception information by mail order in 1946, and she opened her first shop in 1962. Legal restrictions in [[West Germany]] dating back to 1872 were tightened in 1968. [[Pornography in Germany|Pornography]] was legalized in West Germany in 1975, although this never happened in [[East Germany]].

=== Hungary ===
The first Hungarian sex shop opened on 15 November 1989, before the [[end of communism in Hungary]], at 14 Károly Boulevard in Budapest, under the name Intim Center, which still exists today.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://library.hungaricana.hu/hu/view/Delmagyarorszag_1989_11/?query=%22intim%20center%22&pg=171&layout=s | title=Délmagyarország, 1989. November (79. évfolyam, 259-284. Szám) &#124; Könyvtár &#124; Hungaricana |quote="The first Hungarian sex shop opened in Budapest. It is called the Intim Center and is an Austro-Hungarian enterprise selling fake clothes, porn cassettes, inflatable and obedient pederasty toys."}}</ref> At that time, the three T-categories were so suddenly moved from the forbidden to the tolerated that even the press of the time reported the administrative uncertainties surrounding the sex shop in this way.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://library.hungaricana.hu/hu/view/DunantuliNaplo_1989_11/?query=%22intim%20center%22&pg=154&layout=s | title=Dunántúli Napló, 1989. November (46. évfolyam, 302-331. Szám) &#124; Könyvtár &#124; Hungaricana |quote="A sex shop called Intim Center opened in Budapest, at 14 Tanács Boulevard. You can buy everything from videotapes to dildo. And it's legal! Or so we were led to believe, as the opening of the shop was reported with great acclaim in the main newspapers. But now, according to the Esti Hírlap, it turns out that there are no licences involved. A staff member of the newspaper called the Ministry of Culture and was told that the shop does not have the right to sell the malachagas that are on the shelves. The matter is being investigated, but the shop will not be closed for the time being."}}</ref>

=== Italy ===
The first sex shop in Italy was opened in 1975 in [[Milan]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Proibito! A History of Italian Film Censorship, 1913–2021|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LbrYEAAAQBAJ&dq=first+sex+shop+Italy&pg=PA141|first=Roberto|last=Curti|date=2023|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476688565|page=141}}</ref> Since then more sex shops have opened, mostly in Rome.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}} In 2018, the city of [[Pistoia]] in [[Tuscany]] banned the opening of new sex shops in the city's history centre.<ref>{{cite news|title=Tuscan city bans fast food, sex shops, and non-Italian shop signs|url=https://www.thelocal.it/20180424/pistoia-tuscany-shop-signs-italian-foreign-fast-food-sex-shops|website=[[The Local]]|author=Catherine Edwards|date=24 April 2018|access-date=27 August 2019}}</ref>

=== Japan ===
[[File:Shinjuku sex shop dsc04912.jpg|thumb|Front window of a [[Tokyo]] sex shop advertising [[Sex toy|adult toys]]]]
In [[Japan]], sex shops are found in places such as the [[Kabukichō]] district of Tokyo<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=92OlDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA194|title=Heijin: Organized Crime, Business, and Politics in Taiwan|author=Ko-Lin Chin|date=2016|publisher=Routledge|series=Taiwan in the modern world|isbn=9781315498287|page=194}}</ref> as well as the [[mizu shōbai]] districts of suburban cities.<ref name=Yoder>{{cite book|title=Deviance and Inequality in Japan: Japanese Youth and Foreign Migrants|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jogAzgL4R3cC&pg=PA144|first=Robert Stuart|last=Yoder|publisher=Policy Press|date=2011|isbn=9781847428325|page=144}}</ref> The shops contain [[hentai]] magazines, adult videos and DVDs.{{Citation needed|date=January 2016}} In some Japanese sex shops, known as voyeur shops, customers can pay to take nude photographs of young women.<ref name=Yoder/>

=== The Netherlands ===
[[File:AmsterdamPussyCatBookshop1971.jpg|thumb|Pussy Cat Bookshop Amsterdam (1971)]]
The first sex shops in the Netherlands were opened in the early 1970s, by entrepreneurs like [[Beate Uhse]] and [[Lasse Braun]]. The world's first Muslim-aimed online sex shop called [[El Asira]] opened in the Netherlands in 2010. It had 70,000 hits to the website in the first four days of operation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/first-muslim-online-sex-shop/story-e6frg6so-1225848224382|title=First Muslim online sex shop|website=The Australian|date=1 April 2010}}</ref>

=== Russia ===
In Russia, sex shops are often criticized by public and political figures, often of a conservative nature.

In May 2017, [[State Duma]] Deputy from [[United Russia]] [[Vitaly Milonov]] addressed the head of the [[Ministry of Health (Russia)|Ministry of Health]], [[Veronika Skvortsova]], with the initiative to equate intimate products with medicinal products.<ref>{{Cite web |lang=ru |url=https://www.interfax.ru/russia/564435 |title=Милонов призвал продавать интимные товары по назначению врача |trans-title=Milonov called for the sale of intimate goods as prescribed by a doctor |website=Interfax.ru |date=2017-05-30 |publisher=Interfax |access-date=2020-06-03 |archive-date=2020-06-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603231502/https://www.interfax.ru/russia/564435 |url-status=live}}</ref> According to Milonov, it is necessary to introduce control over the distribution of intimate goods: "The use and application of such products will occur exclusively as prescribed by a doctor."<ref>{{Cite web |lang=ru |url=https://www.bfm.ru/news/355728 |title=Новая инициатива Милонова: закрыть секс-шопы и лицензировать интимные товары |trans-title=Milonov's new initiative: close sex shops and license intimate goods |publisher=BFM.ru |accessdate=2020-06-03 |archive-date=2020-06-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603231504/https://www.bfm.ru/news/355728 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2018, Milonov proposed closing all sex shops in Russia. In his opinion, all sex shops in Russia should disappear along with advertising since only "sick people" shop there.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://vedomosti-ural.ru/news/68153/?ya_rss=1 |title=Скандальный депутат Госдумы РФ Виталий Милонов предлагает закрыть в России все секс-шопы! "Там отовариваются больные и маньяки..." |trans-title=The scandalous deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Vitaly Milonov proposes to close all sex shops in Russia! "The sick and maniacs shop there..."  |lang=ru |publisher=vedomosti-ural.ru |accessdate=2020-06-03}}</ref> This is in contrast to his position in 2013 when he only called for reducing the number of sex shops in St. Petersburg.<ref>{{Cite web |lang=ru |url=https://www.ntv.ru/novosti/461763/?fb |title=Милонов решил дать бой «противным» секс-шопам |trans-title=Milonov decided to give battle to the "nasty" sex shops |publisher=[[NTV (Russia)|NTV]] |accessdate=2020-06-03 |archive-date=2020-06-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603231500/https://www.ntv.ru/novosti/461763/?fb |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Singapore ===
Sex shops are extremely rare in Singapore. A few had been opened by 2005,<ref>{{cite news|title=Sex exhibition under close police watch|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ePUv05yJEYC|newspaper=The Mirror|date=26 November 2005|publisher=Graphic Communications Group|editor=Margaret Safo|issue=2658|location=Ghana|page=5|agency=Reuters}}</ref> but only about 1–2 currently exist. These shops mainly sell lingerie, condoms, BDSM tools, genuine enhancement pills, tenga items and various sex toys. Their goods can be seen through a store window.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}

=== South Africa ===
After Nelson Mandela backed the anti-discrimination law that legalised sex toys,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://adultsmart.com.au/blog/mandela-sextoys/|title=Nelson Mandela Legalized Sex Toys|website=Adultsmart Blog|date=13 December 2013}}</ref> "Adult World" was established in 1994 as South Africa's first sex shop. Adult World came to operate a total of 52 shops within South Africa and 15 shops in Australia.<ref name="adultsmart.com.au">{{cite web|url=http://adultsmart.com.au/blog/warehouse/|title=A View into the Operations of Adult Smart|website=Adultsmart Blog|date=21 December 2016}}</ref> Many religious Christian communities believed that the use of these adult lifestyle centres would lead to higher crime rates and attempted to organise mass demonstrations at their opening to force the closure of Adult World.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/sex-shop-faces-wrath-of-suburban-christians-90838|title=Sex shop faces wrath of suburban Christians|website=IOL|date=3 August 2002}}</ref>

In July 1998, Adult World opened their largest adult lifestyle shop in [[Parow, Cape Town]] which they named "Adult World Warehouse". The adult movie star [[Christi Lake]] attended the opening of the shop, where a protest march of over 500 people brought traffic to a standstill. During the next couple of days, the protesters held placards which proclaimed "Real men don't need pornography" and "Protect our people from banned pornography". When the shop was opened, it was found that 70% of the customer base were women who wished to learn more about adult lifestyle products.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Porn-shops-gaining-in-approval-20001027|title=Porn Shops Gaining Approval|website=News 24|date=27 October 2000}}</ref>

As Adult World grew more popular, a focus on the development of adult shops within Australia took place.<ref name="adultsmart.com.au" />

=== Spain ===
Sex shops in Spain did not appear until after the end of the [[Francoist dictatorship]] in 1975. The first sex shop opened in Spain was ''Kitsch'' in Madrid in 1978. Many subsequently opened across the country.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Spaniards: A Portrait of the New Spain|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G60PAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA189|chapter=The Sexual Revolution|first=John|last=Hooper|publisher=Penguin Books|date=1987|isbn=9780140098082|page=189}}</ref>

=== United Kingdom ===
[[File:PrivateShopBedford.JPG|thumb|right|A sex shop in Bedford with blacked-out windows. It is illegal for sex shops in the United Kingdom to show goods in the window.]]
[[File:Walker's_Court,_Soho_(3).JPG|thumb|A sex shop in [[Walker's Court]], Soho, London]]
Almost all licensed adult stores in the UK are forbidden from having their wares in open shop windows under the [[Indecent Displays Act 1981]], which means often the shop fronts are boarded up or covered in posters. A warning sign must be clearly shown at the entrance to the store, and no sex articles (for example, pornography or sex toys) should be visible from the street. However, lingerie, non-offensive covers of adult material, etc. may be shown depending on the licence conditions of the local authority. The [[Video Recordings Act 1984]] introduced the [[R18 (British Board of Film Classification)|R18-rated]] classification for videos that are only available in licensed sex shops. No customer can be under 18 years old.

In London, few boroughs that have licensed sex shops. In the district of [[Soho]] within the [[City of Westminster]] a handful of sex shops were opened by Carl Slack in the early 1960s, and by the mid-1970s the number had grown to 59.<ref>{{cite web|title=Soho – A brief history of the area| url=http://sixtiescity.net/Culture/Soho1.htm|publisher=Sixties City|access-date=1 January 2016}}</ref> Some had nominally "secret" backrooms selling hardcore photographs and novels, including [[Olympia Press]] editions.

In 1978, the businessman [[David Sullivan (businessman)|David Sullivan]] opened the "Private Shop", the first of his chain of sex shops which went on to expand across the UK. The  [[Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982]] required sex shops to apply for a [[sex establishment licence]] from their local authority. As a result hundreds of sex shops were closed.<ref name=Clarissa_Smith>{{cite book|title=International Exposure: Perspectives on Modern European Pornography, 1800-2000|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qsHmMoq-gK0C&pg=PA150|editor-first=Lisa Z.|editor-last=Sigel|publisher=Rutgers University Press|date=2005|isbn=9780813535197|page=150,153|chapter=A Perfectly British Business: Stagnation, Continuities, and Change on the Top Shelf|first=Clarissa|last=Smith}}</ref> There followed purges of corrupt police officers, along with new and tighter licensing controls by the City of Westminster, led to a crackdown on illegal premises in Soho. In the early 1990s, London's Hackney council sought to shut down [[Sh! Women's Erotic Emporium]], because they did not have a licence. Sh! took the council to court and consequently won the right to remain open, as there were no sufficient reasons for the closure. In 2003, the [[Ann Summers]] chain of [[lingerie]] and sex toy shops won the right to advertise for shop assistants in Job Centres, which was originally banned under restrictions on what advertising could be carried out by the sex industry.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2999892.stm|title=Sex toys chain wins legal fight|date=18 June 2003|website=BBC News}}</ref> In 2007, a [[Northern Ireland]] sex shop was denied a licence by the [[Belfast City Council]]. The shop appealed and won, but this was overturned by the House of Lords.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/6590155.stm|title=Lords back sex shop licence ban|date=25 April 2007|website=BBC News}}</ref>

The licensing or closing of unlicensed sex shops, along with cultural changes such as the substantial relaxation of general censorship and the ready availability of non-commercial sex, and the availability of sexual material online, have reduced the [[red-light district]] of Soho to just a small area. The borough has 15 licensed sex shops and several remaining unlicensed ones. Islington and Camden each have multiple sex shops; the former also has three pornographic cinemas.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

Sex shops in Scotland are regulated under the [[Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982]].

=== United States ===
[[File:Red Light District - Ocean City, Maryland.jpg|thumb|A sex shop in [[Ocean City, Maryland]]]]
In the United States, a series of [[United States Supreme Court|Supreme Court]] decisions in the 1960s (based on the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution]]) generally legalized sex shops, while still allowing states and local jurisdictions to limit them through [[zoning]].{{citation needed|date=August 2012}} Zoning regulations often caused shops to be located either on the outskirts of town, or clumped into a single area, creating a type of [[red light district]] of adult stores and businesses. Into the 1980s, nearly all American sex shops were oriented to an almost entirely male clientele.{{citation needed|date=August 2012}} Many included [[adult video arcade]]s, and nearly all were designed so that their customers could not be seen from the street: they lacked windows, and the doors often involved an L-shaped turn so that people on the street could not see in.{{citation needed|date=August 2012}} In addition, during the late 1980s and early 1990s, stores that also had theaters or arcades were sometimes closed by government order, citing the [[HIV/AIDS in the United States|spread of AIDS]] as the motive.<ref>{{cite news|author=Huntly Collins |url=http://articles.philly.com/1992-07-30/news/26028281_1_video-booths-bookstores-aids-virus |title=Pa. Officials Shut Down Sections of Philadelphia Adult Bookstores Authorities Cited The Spread of Aids. Sex Acts Were Being Performed in Video Booths, They Said |newspaper=Philadelphia Inquirer |date=30 July 1992 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805110032/http://articles.philly.com/1992-07-30/news/26028281_1_video-booths-bookstores-aids-virus |archive-date=5 August 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

On the one hand, there are stores resembling the UK's Ann Summers, tending toward "softer" product lines.{{citation needed|date=August 2012}} On the other hand, there are stores that evolved specifically out of a [[sex-positive]] culture, such as [[San Francisco]]'s [[Good Vibrations (sex toy business)|Good Vibrations]] and [[XandriaCollection|Xandria]]. The latter class of stores tend to be very consciously community-oriented businesses, sponsoring lecture series and being actively involved in sex-related health issues, etc.

== See also ==
* [[Erotic furniture]]
* [[Sex machine]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Commons|Sex shop}}

{{Sex}}
{{Pornography|state=collapsed}}
{{Retail}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Sex shops| ]]
[[Category:Retailers by type of merchandise sold]]
[[Category:Pornography]]