China might be one of the top producers of sex toys in the world, but it looks like Pakistan will soon overtake the country. The country as religiously conservative as Pakistan is manufacturing adult toys using steel and leather goods and interestingly, Western customers are opting for these materials.
The manufacturing of adult toys, including anal beads, gimp masks, dildos, and pad lockable penis cages among other kinky products has become a lucrative business in Pakistan, according to The Economist. These products are manufactured in small and local firms in Pakistan and are sold through e-commerce websites like Alibaba. There are approximately 64 sex-toy suppliers on Alibaba.
Thanks to the success of the erotic film Fifty Shades of Grey, the demands for sex toys have increased globally. According to a report, the local firms cannot compete in rubber toys because the import of these materials from China is costly. Also, the buyers in the western countries are ditching the sex toys made of rubber material because of the fear that the material has cancer causing chemicals.
"You can use Pakistani steel for a long time," The Economist quoted an owner of the metal-working factory as saying. "It rusts much later than Indian or Chinese."
But the local companies manufacturing these products are known for making surgical and orthopaedic instruments. Fearing the response of religious hardliners, the local factory owners do not even advertise their products. Instead, they sell on the e-commerce website under "surgical instruments" tags.
The owner of the local firm said they earn around 200 percent profit on a kinky corset or police officer's uniform, whereas their original business products, like jackets and gloves, earn them only 25 percent profit. When asked if these kinky products might promote unmarried or gay people to fornicate—an illegal activity in Pakistan – the owner's son replied, "What if a gay person wears a [normal] jacket that was also produced by us?"
