On 11 October 2018, dubbed the International Day of the Girl Child, toy manufacturing giant Mattel debuted two Barbie dolls modelled after European astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. Partnering with the European Space Agency (ESA) to celebrate Barbie’s 60th anniversary, one of the dolls sported a stylised reproduction of NASA’s Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or spacewalking suit, while the other donned a blue flight suit with ESA patches.

Today, the former of the two has actually jetted off on a zero-gravity flight—with the aim of inspiring young girls to consider a career in space and science, technology, maths and engineering (STEM).

Kicking off World Space Week 2021 with the theme ‘Women in Space’, Cristoforetti’s lookalike doll mirrored the preparation an astronaut needs to do before heading off to space, by travelling and floating on a zero-gravity flight from an ESA base in Germany. “The mini Samantha doll has already been on a parabolic flight, so she already has some experience with weightlessness,” 44 year-old Cristoforetti said in a video statement, as noted by Reuters.

Set to break new grounds as the first European female astronaut to command the International Space Station next year, Cristoforetti—affectionately known in her home country as ‘AstroSamantha’ or ‘AstroSam’—hopes the doll can inspire the next generation. “I think boys and girls, they get passionate about things because they see something intriguing and funny. So maybe those images will kindle a passion in some girls’ hearts and that will be incredible.”

This aim is also backed by a list of educational resources that spotlight different careers in the industry and teach primary school-aged children more about space. Rolling out across toy stores in the UK and Europe this year, proceeds from the sale of these dolls will be donated towards a PhD student bursary at the non-profit organisation Women In Aerospace (WIA).

“With space and STEM careers still underrepresented by women, Barbie is using its platform this World Space Week to show girls exciting and diverse roles and activity in space to inspire them to explore their limitless potential,” said Isabel Ferrer, Barbie’s Marketing Director for Europe and Emerging Markets. In an interview with Sky News, Ferrer noted how the project isn’t just aimed at aspiring astronauts, but also focuses on potential engineers and space scientists like Doctor Nicol Caplin.

According to Caplin, who joined the ESA as a research fellow at the age of 28 and has noticed a lack of gender diversity in space and STEM careers, young girls seeing the doll could be extremely powerful. “I think it’s quite difficult to be what you can’t see and so to imagine yourself as a Barbie doll floating through space,” she said. “Maybe that could have some spark and could really inspire some girls to put on a space suit and to go into space themselves one day.”

However, Caplin also believes encouraging young people is mainly about choice. “It’s not so much about forcing girls into STEM. I think this is all about giving young girls the choice of knowing what they want to do in life and knowing what is open to them. It’s all what the child enjoys and if it happens to be science, I’m all for that and that should be encouraged. Maybe this toy could help that.”

So if you’re one of those Twitter users dubbing this move “a missed opportunity” to send a human female crew on-board, hear me out. Be it a music producer or an astronaut, these dolls have been created to highlight careers where women are often underrepresented. One of the ways to expose young, impressionable girls to such careers is through role-modelling—by showing them examples of women from diverse backgrounds and fields who are breaking boundaries.

And as Cristoforetti herself said back in 2019 with the drop of the collaboration, “I’m very happy that Barbie dolls nowadays reflect not only the body shape of real women, but also the full range of their professional achievements. I hope this will help girls and boys to imagine their future without being constrained by artificial limits that have no place in our time.”

Reports have surfaced of the arrest of an Australian man, based in Sydney, for allegedly importing a sex doll with childlike qualities. This appears part of a wider trend, as concerns rise over a 653 per cent surge in the number of similar products confiscated by authorities in just two years. 

This most recent arrest is the latest in a long line of the same crime; just nine months ago, in December 2020, Australian authorities discovered the online open selling of disturbing child sex dolls on Etsy and disclosed that over 100 dolls of this nature had been seized in just five months. This latest arrest followed the discovery and investigation of a suspicious package conducted by Australian border officials.

Border officials seized the package on 28 July—declared and labelled as a clothes ‘mannequin’. On further probing, they discovered that it contained not a mannequin but a childlike sex doll. The discovery was then assigned to the Australian Border Force (ABF) authorities who later conducted a search warrant of a property located in South-West Sydney, which followed with the arrest of a 23-year-old man on Wednesday 8 September. The suspect in question was arrested on the grounds of importing “tier 2 goods.”

A similar tactic was conducted just last year, October 2020, with two West Australian men in their 60s charged with the same crime, after ABF officials uncovered again declared ‘mannequins’ to be childlike sex dolls. In that same month, another 43-year-old man was arrested after 11 dolls of this nature were found in air cargo shipments. The vile products on Australia’s prohibited tier 2 goods list are legally considered in the country as child abuse materials.

According to Australia’s Customs Act, the importing of childlike sex dolls is a criminal offence that is punished by up to ten years in prison and/or fines of up to $525,000. Possession of such an item could also warrant a penalty of up to 15 years’ imprisonment.

Commander for the ABF, Justin Bathurst, stated that the department was dedicated to finding these products and catching those responsible for importing them into the country. He explained the wider implications such products can have on real children, “These dolls sexualise children, they are not harmless and do not prevent people from offending in the future.” Disturbingly, “these dolls often include instructions on how to use them, they sometimes come with children’s clothing or blankets with cartoon characters on them,” Bathurst explained.

 “In my experience, they look like real children,” he stated, also explaining that other abusive child material is often found alongside the dolls. In a statement, the ABF disclosed that it had confiscated a total number of 226 childlike sex dolls (including parts) in the financial year 2020 to 2021, surpassing the 138 from the previous year. Officials also revealed that they would continue to work with other global officials as a majority of products were shipped to Australia from the locations of China, Japan, Hong Kong and more.

While the rise is terrifying, according to Amanda Coppleman—ABF Superintendent Investigations and Sponsor Monitoring Unit QLD and NT—the percentage surge in childlike sex dolls could just be an indication of the organisation’s improved, effective and diligent investigations.

VICE reports the lack of clarity on whether this rise can be correlated to the COVID-19 pandemic, citing its own investigation into the large spike in adult sex dolls distributed online in the past 18 months; with an Australian Federal Police spokesperson telling the publication that the quantity of child abuse content online is so rapidly increasing that some sites even crash.

Karen Andrews, Federal Minister for Home Affairs, stated that “the Morrison government is serious about cracking down on this abhorrent crime…This National Child Protection Week, I’m calling on all Australians to help us in this fight. Take the threat seriously, learn the warning signs, start a discussion, and help protect children.”