If Only I Had Teeth Down There . . .

Posted on June 22nd, 2006 by gail helen.
Categories: Relationships, Politics, Feminism, Technology, Current Events.

Medgadget reported back in September ‘05 on a device by South African inventor Sonette Ehlers intended as an “anti-rape female condom” named “Rapex,” a “device bristling with internal hooks designed to snare rapists.” Apparently inspired by a rape victim’s comment that if only she “had teeth down there,” it is designed to both disable the rapist and force him to seek medical attention in order to have the device removed, after which hospitals and clinics could turn the perp over to police. Apparently the story was originally reported by the L.A. Times, but I wasn’t able to discover a permalink to that article. Some of the more ridiculous comments surrounding this story are that we should “be concerned at how normal rape has become” (duh!) and that this device is comparable to a chastity belt. Historically, a chastity belt isn’t within the woman’s power to remove, while the Rapex device is supposedly inserted and removed with a tampon-like applicator. Some worry that rapists will be more likely to kill their victims in revenge, although the pain of this device sounds pretty disabling. Probably won’t do much to deter a group of men from killing their victim, but it might stop one.

I felt like blogging this today because the BBC was reporting that Amnesty International has called upon the Jamaican government to do something about the “widespread sexual violence and discrimination against women and girls,” saying that “women’s freedom of movement, and therefore their freedom to work, to study and to access health care, can be severely restricted. Women are also more vulnerable to ‘protectors’ who may ensure safe passage in return for sexual favours.” Amnesty’s report “details the case of a 15-year-old, Enid Gordon, whose family filed a complaint after she was raped by two men. A week before she was due to testify in court, she was found dead, strangled with her school tie, in the same place where she had been raped.” Although Rapex sounds like a hoax, it doesn’t change the sad fact that in places like the Sudan this device might be worn 24 hours a day. Even in America, 15-year-old girls aren’t safe from the reality - at home, on the street, at school - that your average man could easily overpower her if that was his intent. Screw teeth, screw justice — where’s the wrath of God when it’s needed??

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