RapeX
he moment you realize you’re face-to-face with a rapist must be one of the most terrifying ever. But a woman wearing this device can have the small satisfaction of knowing that her rapist will soon be in major pain. When he tries to penetrate her, his penis will slide into a sheath lined with barbs. To remove them, he’ll need to a see a doctor, who will call the police.
The name of this product is RapeX. The six-year-old device — invented by a white South African woman — is inserted like a tampon and fits like one. It got a good deal of press when it was released, but is back in the news again thanks to a viral Facebook image shared by TonyaTKOShow.
As a tool of revenge, RapeX is brilliant. Who doesn’t fantasize about harming these guys? And it could be a pretty powerful deterrent to stranger rape.
But it also raises a lot of questions. Does it subvert rape culture or reinforce the message that it’s women’s fault and responsibility? How will women who are raped by acquaintances — the vast majority of rape cases — protect themselves ? Will they need to wear this all the time? Will a rapist who encounters this turn into a murderer?
The director of a South African rape crisis center told The New York Times, RapeX ”sends the retrograde message ‘that women should be responsible for their own safety.’” Do you agree?
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I don’t think the idea of protecting yourself with this gadget means that you are responsible for rape–but we are ALL responsible for protecting ourselves, men and women. And unfortunately rapists are still lurking out there in record numbers. We would love to not need devices like this but I doubt that any woman who has been raped, if given the choice, would say that if it happened all over again they would choose not to have something to prevent it and protect themselves. I’m still trying to understand exactly how this works, and why this would be the sort of thing you would use on a regular basis. It looks weird and the concept behind it might be as well (that you leave home with the mindset that you must prevent yourself from being raped). But I’ve lived in South Africa and in some areas during certain times of the day it can be scary for a woman out alone. Perhaps it began in that setting, but if it helps a woman anywhere in the world, on any day of the week I say it’s worth it. Critics opinions be damned!
Is there a model to protect women from anal penetration as well? Women need multiple “strategies” to protect themselves.
I don’t agree with the idea that a woman being responsible for her own safety is “retrograde.” That’s reality, every person living is responsible for their own safety. Who else is involved in the harrowing moments when it’s just you & an attacker? In the same way parents have to have “bad touching” talks with children to give them strategies on how to stop molestation when no one else is around, women need as many strategies as possible for defending themselves physically and psychologically from rapist attack.