Wednesday, March 08, 2006

End the Silence, End the Violence

My hat is off to Teri Hatcher. She recently told Vanity Fair that she's a survivor of child sexual abuse, and I admire her strength and courage in talking honestly about her life.

Rape has been on my mind a lot lately. The Taking Steps Walk is coming up, plus we've had a lot of local coverage about the rape and murder of Imette St. Guillain. Also, I can't stop thinking about RapeX, that new anti-rape condom. If you haven't heard about it, here's what Bust says:

Penis Flytrap: Anti-rape Condom Puts the Hurt on Perps
by Brandy Barber, Dec./Jan. 2006 issue of Bust

"It will make men think twice," said 57-year-old South African inventor Sonette Ehlers at the August unveiling of her controversial new product--the "Rapex" anti-rape condom. Created to protect women in a country where one in nine is HIV positive and the rape rate is the highest in the world at 50,000 reported cases per year, the device is designed to be inserted like a tampon and worn regularly by women as a precautionary measure. Made of latex and held firm by shafts of sharp barbs, the Rapex attaches itself onto an attacker's ween--hook, line, and, sinker--while also functioning as a female condom, offering protection against pregnancy and infection. Once it gets its hooks in a perpetrator, the condom can only be removed surgically, ensuring that rapists can be identified and apprehended once they hit the hospital. Critics are calling Rapex barbaric, but Ehlers isn't having it. "This is not about vengeance, but about the act--that is what I hate," she says. "It's a medieval weapon for a medieval man." Huzzah!

V. interesting, no? I know RapeX is highly controversial, but I think it's a great invention. I've been a volunteer sexual assault counselor since 2000, and I figure the more tools we have at our disposal, the better.

2 Comments:

Blogger Hashbrown said...

I think it is the bomb!

3:07 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Of course it is - duh. You only get it stuck in your thing if you're RAPING SOMEBODY. You can easily avoid it by NOT RAPING ANYBODY. Pretty simple.

11:46 AM  

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