Standardizing sex toys is a piece of cake
AFNOR publishes the voluntary standard NF ISO 3533 on design and safety requirements for sex toys. Isabelle Dufossé, General Manager of Retail for Dorcel, actively contributed to its drafting.
They used to be reserved for specialist stores in red-light districts, but today, sex toys are gradually changing their status to become consumer products like any others. The difference is that they can come into contact with sensitive areas of the body, and until now, manufacturers, distributors and consumers have had to navigate in the dark. To ensure that the pleasure is risk-free, and at the request of the Swedish medical profession, industry professionals from all over the world have developed a standard. The result is the voluntary standard NF ISO 3533: ” Sex toys – Requirements for the design and safety of products intended to come into direct contact with the genitals, anus or both “. Interview with Isabelle Dufossé, General Manager of Retail for Dorcel, who represented France during the drafting of this standard.
How did this standard come about?
Isabelle Dufossé – AFNOR contacted us in 2019 to announce that Sweden had initiated a voluntary standard project for sex toys. The starting point was an alert from the medical profession, concerned about the increase in the number of interventions due to the clumsy use of these accessories! The anecdote may make you smile, but the subject is very serious. Today, according to a study in France, 40% of adults say they have already used a sextoy, and 67% would be happy if their partner gave them one. This represents a potential 32 million users in France alone, for both men and women, and yet the sector is not subject to any quality or safety standards!
In practical terms, how did you go about guaranteeing user safety?
Isabelle Dufossé – At Dorcel, we were already aware of the issue, but didn’t have any real guidelines. We set our own safety standards and rules, but not everyone is so careful. To create the standard, we based ourselves on standards for somewhat similar objects, for example in the electrical sector. If the manufacturer is subject to standards, the distributor is reassured about the quality of the products it sells and the safety of its customers. And at the end of the day, the user is the first to win, because he or she has confidence in what he or she is buying, as would be the case with any other mass-market product.
What will the arrival of this standard change in this sector?
Isabelle Dufossé – This voluntary standard will make it possible to distinguish between good quality products and others. As soon as a product claims to comply with the NF ISO 3533 standard, it will offer a guarantee of quality compared with products that I call “gadgets” and which may present risks. This standard will deliberately drive a wedge between brands that don’t care about these considerations, and those that have a genuine quality approach. It will help companies who, like us, believe in this added value and want to commit to ethical and sustainable approaches for their consumers.
How would you sum up your participation in the development of the standard?
Isabelle Dufossé – We’re delighted to have had the opportunity to take part in its drafting. Our market is becoming a “real” industry, just like any other, so it’s essential that it becomes normalized. This is necessary and can only serve to provide the market and the consumer with more information and transparency.
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