Paris councillors to determine if ‘games centre’ offering time with sex dolls is in breach of ban on brothels

Paris councillors are set to determine the fate of a business where clients can pay to spend an hour with a silicon sex doll.

Local media reports councillors and feminist groups have been calling for the closure of Xdolls which is currently registered as a games centre, with opponents arguing it is effectively a brothel.

Owning or operating a brothel is illegal in France.

Xdolls opened last month and is located in an anonymous-looking flat in Paris, the BBC reports.

It has three rooms with each containing a silicone sex doll measuring about 1m45.

Clients can pay $142 (€89) to spend an hour with a doll and are able to make their booking, and pay, online.

The exact address of the business is kept a secret and not even the neighbours are aware of the nature of the business, owner Joachim Lousquy said.

Communist councillor Nicholas Bonnet Oulaldj wants it shut down, claiming it “conveys a degrading image of the women”.

He and his fellow councillors are calling for a ban on the business, arguing it operates like a brothel.

Mr Lousquy has defended his business, placing emphasis on the fact they are sex toys and he does not see them as degrading to women.

Lorraine Questiaux, lawyer and spokesperson for a Paris feminist association, says "that in France, every year, there are 86,000 women raped", the BBC reports.

"Xdolls is not a sex shop. It's a place that generates money and where you rape a woman.”

The Council of Paris meets this week where the matter will be considered.