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There are dozens of websites that sell sex toys online in all the Gulf countries, but what are the challenges on the ground?

Everything about sex and the sexual process remains shrouded in secrecy and taboo in conservative societies, as well as curiosity and the desire for knowledge and experience. 

The societies of the Gulf region do not differ in this, so the use of sexual games between partners is surrounded by the same taboo and stigma, in a way that is no different from the sanctity, prevention, tightening and suppression that sex itself carries. Thus, the use of these games is usually in complete secrecy, as well as their sale and circulation in the markets.

Like the rest of the surrounding countries, the Gulf countries officially prohibit the import of these toys, although in Bahrain, for example, there is no legal text prohibiting this, the customs law prohibits the import of used car tires, fissile materials, pigs and horses, and there is no text prohibiting the import of sexual goods According to Khadija Ahmed, the owner of the first store in the Gulf to sell sex toys, "Khadija Mall", which is located in a crowded street south of Manama, the capital of Bahrain, during 

Khadija Ahmed explained that she has faced some difficulties and severe scrutiny, especially from customs officials, since the store opened in 2008, "which are problems that are not related to social norms or the laws of the country," she said.

There is an expectation from women in conservative societies to please and preserve the husband or man, so women exaggerate their adornment and prepare themselves for marriage and the sexual process, which makes them always resort to renewal and sexy clothes in an effort to provoke him and increase his love in them so that he does not search or marry someone else, as long as this is socially acceptable Legally permitted, and religiously analyzed.

With a quick search on the Internet, we will find that there are dozens of websites that sell sex toys, stimulants and tonics online in all Gulf countries, even in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is known for its extreme conservativeness, after the entrepreneur Abdulaziz Aurag launched his brand “Assira” (and for the name itself significant connotations) for selling oils, candles, etc. that “provide a deeper meaning to sex, libido and even spirituality,” according to a 2015 interview  with Agence France-Presse.

These stores and websites provide massage oils, a variety of scented lingerie or “chocolate” and other flavors, in addition to candles, perfumes, creams for delaying ejaculation for men, aphrodisiac scents and other sex toys, in addition to synthetic hair (wigs) and more. It is associated with the body, arousal and sexuality, but they all refrain - at least in public - from selling sex toys that come in the form of sexual organs such as "dildos" and female dolls.

Last August, the UAE authorities seized 1,124 sex toys and erotic films that were being sold by an Arab woman through the social media “Facebook” and “WhatsApp” after storming her home following an ambush in which she was tempted to buy some toys from her, which is what her lawyer used against Authorities to prove the illegality of the act, according to the  Emirati press .

A Bahraini and a European were also arrested in 2016 on charges of displaying pornographic images and materials on Instagram, and selling artificial sexual organs in Bahrain. For sale, as reported  by the Bahraini newspaper Al-Wasat.

In another news, a European businessman was arrested last April and was ordered to be deported, while his partner, the Emirati citizen, was fined 10,000 dirhams (about $2,353), because they promoted more than 150 sex games through Facebook and social networks in Dubai, as reported by Gulf News . In English, which they were importing from China by mail, the European was arrested after a police ambush and charged with possessing pornographic and sexual materials and illegally distributing them on social media.