Anti-rape device with teeth
Someone has invented an anti-rape device which will physically harm rapists at the point of penetration, but Donna Stephen wonders if this is such a good idea.
Almost every day something happens around me which acts as a rude awakening about the country and times we live in. Reading through the Cape Times yesterday, I had very mixed feelings about an article titled "Anti-rape device gives women teeth – but some fear it will worsen violence".
A South African woman, Sonette Ehlers, has invented an anti-rape device. This tampon-like device is hollow and contains barbs which will attach itself to a rapist's penis during penetration. The device cannot be removed without anaesthetic and medical help.
Last year there were 52 733 reported rapes in the country. So, alongside many women, I'm inclined to let out a little victory yelp, but there's a larger part of my brain that objects and fears such a device.
Firstly, this device can only work after penetration has occurred. This isn't going to do much in the short term about reducing the number of rapes which occur daily. It will "mark" a rapist. It may even increase the number of convictions based on evidence – but it's doing nothing to address the problem of rape. There is a danger that women might begin seeing this as some kind of protection – which it is not.
Secondly, It's not doing anything to prevent rape – which is where we should be spending our money.
Sonette Ehlers agrees that it will not prevent rape – but will assist in identifying attackers. Women would have to wear this device every day. It will be available in supermarkets and pharmacies – wherever you could buy tampons, basically.
The possibility of rape is something that women live with. Despite this awareness, which is not always at the forefront of my mind, the reality that I'd have to wear something like this is worrying. It would mean that:
I'd have a constant awareness of the potential that exists for me to be raped. I'm not sure that I want to be thinking that way all the time.
Social protection groups and government have utterly failed in their duty to address the cause of the problem. They're not doing well at the moment – but I'd rather still focus effort on prevention, not punishment.
On some level it will feel like an invasion of my personal space and body – (yes, I hear you saying, well, that's what rape is!) – but I'm talking about a daily reminder that, if I am raped, all I can do is mark the rapist – and not in any way in as permanent way as I would potentially be "marked".
The answer is to our rape crisis lies in gender education. We have to (and yes, there's a finger pointed right at the government here) educate men on behaviour towards the females around them. This strategy – prevention – is the longer term solution, but the only one which will work ultimately – to remove threat not punish it after the fact.
Then there is the possibility that a device like this holds potential for abuse by less than saintly women. Philandering husbands and cheating boyfriends, beware...
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- Women24