Sex bans around the globe

“Sex sells” is something that’s heard a lot in the advertising industry. It is definitely difficult to avoid sexual innuendo even on a daily work commute whether it’s from a provocative billboard advert’ or a sexily-clad mannequin in a shop window or a sexualised song lyric or radio ad’. There are, however, many countries where such overt sexualisation of advertising output is not allowed.

Censorship is on a whole different level in some countries and if you go down to the nuances of the regulations in some of these countries, the level of control is very tight. For example, in the Eurasian Customs Union countries of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, lacy underwear is effectively banned because regulations don’t allow for the manufacture, import or sale of underwear with less than 6% cotton. Or if you’re planning a trip to see the Northern Lights in Iceland, don’t bank on taking in a visit to a strip club because they’re banned in the country since 2010!

On a more serious note, there are still vast amounts of countries that don’t allow people to identify as homosexual and the punishments associated vary but some countries in Africa and Central, South and East Asia enforce capital punishment or life imprisonment for it which is of course hugely shocking to us in the Western world.

In terms of sexual expression, the adult toy market here in the UK is one of the biggest in the world and sales of sex toys of all types globally, currently in their billions, are still on the rise. Again though, adult toys aren’t something that every country embraces so it’s important to know this if you plan on travelling with your favourite toy stashed away in your luggage! So what’s the best advice if you have a trip in the future and were thinking of bringing your top toy?

Elizabeth Morris, a buyer at Carvaka Sex Toys says: “No one wants to get in trouble with the law and especially not when you're on your holidays! While we know our customers all love their adult toys, it's best to be aware of local laws when you travel so that you're not detained on entry! While breaking these laws might just result in your favourite adult toy being confiscated, it's best not to test the local systems so we advise people to do their research pre-travel to avoid a red face at airport security, or worse!”