Three decades of female pleasures…
After launching in April 1992, Hoxton-based sex shop Sh! Women’s Emporium became the first of its kind to focus exclusively on women’s sexual rights and pleasure. 30 years later, the female-focused business has grown into a pioneering, multi-award-winning brand that has forever changed the face of the British sex industry.
When Sh! first opened its doors in 1992, the conversation surrounding women’s sexual rights was very different. Rape within marriage was still legal, domestic violence was not classified as a crime, there was no law banning discrimination against transgender people, and same-sex couples were not allowed to marry or adopt children.
As Sh! celebrates its 30th year, all this has changed – as have attitudes towards female sexuality. On average, British women now have twice the number of sexual partners in their lifetime as they did in 1992, and they are four times more likely to have a same-sex sexual experience.
Sh! founder Ky Hoyle:
“We are thrilled to celebrate this huge milestone. For three decades we’ve been helping women of all ages, backgrounds and sexual preferences to understand that they have the right to sexual pleasure, and showing them how to achieve it without shame or blame”.
Ky decided to open the country’s first sex shop for women with a £700 budget after visiting a seedy Soho sex shop aimed only at men. Today, Ky and her team are credited with helping an average of 500 women per week to have better orgasms.
Sh! founder Ky Hoyle:
“We’ve had many triumphs and battles along the way. Notable moments include introducing sex toys to the NHS, visiting Downing Street bearing a special ‘gift’ for the prime minister’s wife, being taken to court for supposedly breaking outdated obscenity laws – we won, and discovering the Jessica Rabbit vibrator that became a global sensation”.
Sh! has also been at the forefront of several campaigns to improve women’s sexual health and wellbeing. These include creating Vaginismus Awareness Day every September, and co-founding Café V, the UK’s first-ever support group for survivors of sexual violence to regain their enjoyment of sex. Sh!’s current collaboration with Macmillan Cancer Support aims to help women enjoy full sex lives while living with cancer.
Sh! continues to operate as an online business since closing its London premises in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In celebration of their Birthday, Sh! released a video on the history of female sex toys.
Sh! founder Ky Hoyle:
“Incredible progress has been made over the past 30 years. But there’s still work to be done to achieve the goal of ensuring all women, transgender and non-binary people can enjoy safe and healthy sexual pleasure – and Sh! will be there to do it”.
The UK’s first ever women friendly sex shop. for 30 years, Sh! have been championing female-bodied pleasure, and helping women and vulva-owners (along with those that love them!) discover their true sexual selves, whatever their age, health, relationship or orgasmic status.
www.SH-WOMENSTORE.com
