A Freudian nightmare has finally been realised with the
invention of an “anti-rape condom,” a device which fits inside a
woman’s vagina and ensnares any wayward penises with rows of sharp
little barbed teeth.
The South African woman responsible for the device, Sonnet Ehlers,
recalls an encounter with a hospitalised rape victim during her
time as a medical researcher 40 years ago – “If only I had teeth
down there,” the woman said.
Thus was born her idea for an innovative if grotesque anti-rape
device – the Rape-aXe.
The device takes the form of a condom-like device worn inside
the vagina, but with the addition of rows of razor sharp plastic
teeth, pointed backward to allow entry but then to snare the penis
on withdrawal.
An assailant withdrawing will find the sheath attached to his
penis by scores of these little barbs, and is unlikely to be able
to remove it without medical attention, it is said. A trip to the
hospital would then allow him to be pinpointed as a likely
rapist.
The device is designed to avoid drawing blood so it does not
create hygiene problems.
Assuming it operates correctly and the victim escapes further
outrage, the device also eliminates risk of pregnancy or STD
transmission.
Critics suggest the device is unlikely to discourage rapists in
situations where there are multiple assailants or where there is
ample time to investigate the victim, and may in fact provoke them
into further acts of violence.
It is also not clear how difficult it would be for an assailant,
or the wearer herself if under duress, to simply remove the
device.
Others are positive the device will help:
“What people need is this condom. When men hear about this, they
will be scared. They won’t know who has protected herself and who
not.
Women try to fight, to save themselves, but you can’t fight men.
You don’t know when they’re going to rape you, you can’t walk with
a weapon. It comes abruptly… It’s done in darkness.”
South African women face the highest rates of sexual violence in
the world, with a quarter of South African men admitting to having raped someone.
Conviction rates are dismal, and the government began
drastically restricting gun ownership in 2005, an act which critics
contend coincided with a substantial increase in violent crime in a
nation already awash with illegal weapons.
A vagina with teeth may indeed be one of the few recourses
available to South African women under the circumstances.
Source : http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2010/04/14/anti-rape-condom-a-vagina-with-teeth/