Female "Anti Rape" Condom

[Aggie87]

Interesting new idea for help in rape prosecution. Perhaps just the fact that it's out there could help prevent some rapes as well, if it catches on...

Link

South Africa Debuts Anti-Rape Female Condom

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (June 21) -- Counseling a rape victim more than 40 years ago, Dr. Sonnet Ehlers got an idea for an anti-rape female condom that South Africa is now testing during the mostly male and sometimes raucous, alcohol-fueled celebrations for the World Cup.

"It was in 1968 or 1969, and I was a young intern counseling a girl from one of South Africa's townships, who'd been raped. She said, 'If only I had teeth down there,'" Ehlers told AOL News. "And I thought, God, it would be great to make something that could really be useful."

Ehlers, a 62-year-old physician, lab researcher and hematologist -- and a mother of two daughters -- spent the next four decades developing a female condom with jagged latex hooks that latch onto the skin of an attacker. Dubbed "Rape-aXe," the condom is inserted with an applicator like a tampon, and it clenches a man's penis and causes "immense discomfort" without drawing blood. It can only be removed by medical professionals, who are being familiarized with the device in order to contact South African police when they see one.

"I'm not out for vengeance. It doesn't leave permanent damage to the penis, but there will be tiny little scars to remind him of what he's done -- something his wife or future wife might ask him about," Ehlers said.

The new condom was patented in 2007, and Ehlers hopes to begin selling it in South African pharmacies and grocery stores soon. It's being evaluated by the country's Bureau of Standards and would sell for about $2.50. Meanwhile, Ehlers has distributed samples to 100 unnamed women across South Africa this week, for initial testing during the World Cup.

South Africa has one of the world's highest crime rates outside war zones, with 50 murders and 140 rapes reported each day, though experts believe the real number of rapes could be many times higher. A 2009 survey by South Africa's Medical Research Council found that 28 percent of men admitted to having raped a woman, and 20 percent said they had done so in the past year.

After that emotional meeting with a rape victim in the late 1960s, Ehlers describes how she began inventing the new condom by experimenting with a household item: the safety seal found on a soda bottle. "I was playing around with the plastic strip that tightens around the bottle's neck, running my fingers over it, and then I phoned Coca-Cola," Ehlers said. One of the company's engineers joined her team, which also includes gynecologists and psychologists who've interviewed rapists in South African prisons, she said.

Critics of Ehlers' invention say it could be too punitive for the alleged rapist, and also worry that the device could lead to more violence against women, once a rapist realizes that he's been branded by the device. Some also say it's unfair to put the onus of halting rape on women rather than on the offenders themselves.

"Women should not need to artificially alter our bodies to prevent rape," Erin Matson, a vice president of the National Organization for Women, told AOL News in an e-mail interview. "Preventing rape requires educating women and men. ... By putting the focus on women's own anatomy, this product seems to use rape -- a serious crime -- to sexualize women even further."

A South African expert on gender-based violence, Lisa Vetten, said the device harks "back to the days where women were forced to wear chastity belts."

"It is a terrifying thought that women are being made to adapt to rape by wearing these devices," Vetten, with South Africa's Center for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, said in a 2007 statement when Ehlers obtained her patent. "Women would have to wear this every minute of their lives on the off-chance that they would be raped."

Ehlers advises women to wear the anti-rape condom when they're walking through dimly lit neighborhoods alone at night, or even on a blind date. It can be worn for 24 hours straight, she said.

For years, Ehlers counseled rape victims and heard stories about how women tried to use makeshift devices similar to hers to protect themselves. She said one woman confessed to having embedded a razor blade into her contraceptive sponge, to hurt any man who might rape her. Ehlers said she wanted to develop a safe, medically approved device for women that wouldn't maim their rapists, either.

"My critics say I've developed a medieval device, but I say it's a medieval device for a medieval deed," Ehlers told AOL News today in a phone interview from her office north of Cape Town.

"I've had so many e-mails from women who've been raped, who say 'Now we feel armed,'" Ehlers said, referring to women who've heard about her invention. "We want to get T-shirts that say, 'Try me now.'"

[RDK]

Sorry in advance, but I suppose this gives new meaning to the word "snatch."

[Jazzmoose]

Can't wait for the first story about a woman who purposely picks up men while wearing one. Maybe a boiling rabbit or two thrown in for good measure...

[papsrus]

Couldn't an attacker just remove it first?

And rape is an act of violence. Not sure this device would do anything to lessen that. More likely, just the opposite.

The infomercials should be lovely.

[Guy Berger]

A serious contender for the Nobel Peace Prize, in my opinion. I'm genuinely surprised there's opposition to this...

Guy

[papsrus]

I hope you didn't interpret my comments as opposition. More like suspicion that it will not, in the end, thwart violence against women.

[Dan Gould]

I hope you didn't interpret my comments as opposition. More like suspicion that it will not, in the end, thwart violence against women.

Exactly. Unless this thing means debilitating pain for the rapist, I'd assume that the guy would end up beating the hell out of the woman, if not beat her to death.

Then again, men have been known to become a little preoccupied if their Willies are bleedin'.

[PHILLYQ]

Just asking, what happens with a case of consent followed by regret followed by a false rape allegation?

[Man with the Golden Arm]

on a different note, reminds me of a friend who told me he turns those ribbed ones inside out - "heck, if I'm buying 'em why should she get the extra pleasure".

[Chuck Nessa]

So the condoms are loose enough to rub you friend the right way?

[Dan Gould]

Just asking, what happens with a case of consent followed by regret followed by a false rape allegation?

Huh? That has nothing to do with this. If it were a consensual act she wouldn't put it inside her before they have sex. Nothing inside her, nothing bad happens to his johnson. Whatever she might do or say afterward, there wouldn't be any evidence of rape because the thing is embedded in his dick.

On the other hand, I do have to wonder if some sort of sicko might put these inside her in order to wreak revenge against any male she can find.

[papsrus]

On the other hand, I do have to wonder if some sort of sicko might put these inside her in order to wreak revenge against any male she can find.

As if the dating scene weren't hellish enough.

... Is there even such a thing as a 'dating scene' anymore?

What the hell is a 'dating scene' anyways? Where did I get that phrase from? I feel like Dudley Moore over here.

[John L]

It can only be removed by medical professionals, who are being familiarized with the device in order to contact South African police when they see one.

This would seem to be a major drawback for a sexually active woman.

And why do medical professionals need to contact South African police when they see one?

[Aggie87]

It can only be removed by medical professionals, who are being familiarized with the device in order to contact South African police when they see one.

This would seem to be a major drawback for a sexually active woman.

The woman can remove it from herself any time she likes - it would just be something to be used when she's concerned she'll be in a position of vulnerability, I think. So it wouldn't prevent her from having a sexually active lifestyle.

And why do medical professionals need to contact South African police when they see one?

I think they're saying it can only be removed from the male by a medical professional. Once it's on the male's johnson, he would have to go to a doctor to have it removed. Theoretically he's just assaulted someone, so the the doctor would report the dude to the police.

I agree with some of the other comments above though - if it's only mildly painful, it's only going to enrage the rapist to start with, meaning probably more violence for the victim.

And I can also envision women using the thing as some sort of retribution or something as well...not strictly as a defensive measure.

I think it's a step in the right direction for sure though - maybe it can be further developed to be more debilitating. But I don't agree with the argument about it being "too punitive" for the rapist though - he's committing rape, for Christ's sake! I don't agree that it's further sexualizing women or artificially altering them or whatever, either.

And there should definitely be consequences for any woman found using it for vengeance or whatever - that might constitute assault and battery or something, I dunno.

Edited June 22, 2010 by Aggie87

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

Is it true that all the testing is being done in S. Africa except for one test model that'll be pulled over Bernie Madoff's head (upper) until he talks and tells 'em where that missing $9 billion is?

[John L]

Thanks for that clarification, Angie. For some reason, I was thinking about removal from the woman, not the man.

I think it's a step in the right direction for sure though - maybe it can be further developed to be more debilitating.

Oops, sorry honey. I somehow forgot to take it out.

Edited June 22, 2010 by John L

[Noj]

Rape is so bizarre. I mean, the whole fun is that she wants to.

It's sad that it has to come to this. Too many dirtbags in the world. Sounds like a worthwhile invention, if enough women need to defend themselves. Now if they'll just invent a trigger that summons lightning bolts to strike the sick bastards who mutilate girls with that female circumcision stuff.

[Jazzmoose]

I'm genuinely surprised there's opposition to this...

Guy

Well, if it wasn't Papsrus, it must have been me; surely Ray's comment can't be read as opposition. Of course, I didn't think mine could when I posted it, but there you go. However, it wasn't meant as opposition. For some reason Fatal Instinct (the famous stalking movie in we which we learn that stalkers are female, rather than what crime statistics tell us) flashed in my brain, and I could see the movie posters already...

[RDK]

I'm genuinely surprised there's opposition to this...

Guy

Well, if it wasn't Papsrus, it must have been me; surely Ray's comment can't be read as opposition. Of course, I didn't think mine could when I posted it, but there you go. However, it wasn't meant as opposition. For some reason Fatal Instinct (the famous stalking movie in we which we learn that stalkers are female, rather than what crime statistics tell us) flashed in my brain, and I could see the movie posters already...

No, my comment wasn't in any way opposition; it was just tasteless. Actually, I think Guy was referring to the opposition mentioned in the article, not by anyone here.

[Jazzmoose]

Ah. Of course. Duh...

[Aggie87]

Thanks for that clarification, Angie.

You're welcome, but don't call me Angie.

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

Now if they'll just invent a trigger that summons lightning bolts to strike the sick bastards who .......

Maybe a stray bolt or two for these people at the AAP who should just speed straight on through the 'cultural sensitivity tollbooth' but feel compelled to slow down and at least offer up 25% of the regular fare. Spineless saps.

May 17, 2010

American Academy of Pediatrics ‘Compromises’ on Female Circumcision

Paul Williams, PhD

Realizing that the Islamic population in the U.S. has soared to 10 million, the American Academy of Pediatrics wants American doctors to receive legal permission to perform a ceremonial pinprick or “nick” on the genitalia of Muslim baby girls.

The academy’s committee on bioethics says culturally sensitive pediatricians have suggested that current federal law, which “makes criminal any non-medical procedure performed on the genitals” of a girl in the United States, may produce the unintended consequence of driving some families to take their daughters to other countries to undergo circumcision.

“It might be more effective if federal and state laws enabled pediatricians to reach out to families by offering a ritual nick as a possible compromise to avoid greater harm,” the group said.

Opponents of female genital mutilation, or F.G.M., have decried the Academy’s stance.

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.6236/pub_detail.asp

[danasgoodstuff]

This proceedure (Fucking Goddamn Mutilation) was done to my mother when she was 13 (in the US, she's Danish/Scots-Irish). She was scarred for life, I grew up with the consequences. She recovered, more or less, eventually. People who defend/excuse this as culture should be shot. Yes, it does make me upset.

[danasgoodstuff]

Back to the original topic, it's kinda 'god in the ____' and equally wishful thinking....

[AllenLowe]

speaking of Naked Gun - this might work: