South African doctor invents female condom with 'teeth' to fight rape.

[Deozaan]

If the title sounds like something from a really bad horror movie, you must be thinking of Teeth (2007).

However, truth is often stranger than fiction. This condom has been in the making for 40 years.

The woman inserts the latex condom like a tampon. Jagged rows of teeth-like hooks line its inside and attach on a man's penis during penetration, Ehlers said.

Once it lodges, only a doctor can remove it -- a procedure Ehlers hopes will be done with authorities on standby to make an arrest.

They'd better be paying the (male) test subjects a lot of money!

[Renegade]

It's also a form of "enslavement," said Victoria Kajja, a fellow for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the east African country of Uganda. "The fears surrounding the victim, the act of wearing the condom in anticipation of being assaulted all represent enslavement that no woman should be subjected to."

Kajja said the device constantly reminds women of their vulnerability.

...snip...

South Africa has one of the highest rape rates in the world, Human Rights Watch says on its website. A 2009 report by the nation's Medical Research Council found that 28 percent of men surveyed had raped a woman or girl, with one in 20 saying they had raped in the past year, according to Human Rights Watch.

Let's do an informal poll here... How many people here are rapists?

WTF? That's from a survey with people volunteering answers! "Are you a rapist?" "Sometimes." Wow. The reality must be much higher.

Seriously --- that's very, very messed up.

As for complaining about "enslavement", geez... It's like they're upset that they can't run around raping anymore. "Enslavement"??? It's a really bad situation. Seems like it's needed there. Badly.

And as for the movie, "Teeth" -- it was REALLY bad.

From the article, the inventor quoting a rape victim:

"She looked at me and said, 'If only had teeth down there,'"

The product name is even scary: Rape-aXe

That something like that would ever be needed it extremely sad. And the inventor is drawing out critics! Just how completely FUBAR is that?

[Deozaan]

As for complaining about "enslavement", geez... It's like they're upset that they can't run around raping anymore. "Enslavement"??? It's a really bad situation. Seems like it's needed there. Badly.

I agree. If this device is necessary then women are already "enslaved" by the fear of needing one anyway.

I'm reminded of an argument against "gun control" (read: gun prohibition), that defines gun control as the idea that a woman being brutally raped and murdered is somehow morally superior to a woman with a gun who can defend herself against would-be rapists/murderers.

Not having a deterrent for these crimes is more enslavement than having the deterrents available, IMO.

[Renegade]

The lesser of 2 evils... 

[Eóin]

Interesting that this story seems to have cropped up all over the interwebs today, the device itself was developed 5 years ago and I remember seeing it mentioned in an Encyclopedia Dramatica article at least 3 years ago.

[wraith808]

Critics say the female condom is not a long-term solution and makes women vulnerable to more violence from men trapped by the device.

I think this is a real concern...

Various rights organizations that work in South Africa declined to comment, including Human Rights Watch and Care International.

I wonder what this means...

As for complaining about "enslavement", geez... It's like they're upset that they can't run around raping anymore. "Enslavement"??? It's a really bad situation. Seems like it's needed there. Badly.

I agree. If this device is necessary then women are already "enslaved" by the fear of needing one anyway.

You sort of echo the other side of the argument, strangely enough...

Kajja said the device constantly reminds women of their vulnerability.

There's also this scary point...

Women take drastic measures to prevent rape in South Africa, Ehlers said, with some wearing extra tight biker shorts and others inserting razor blades wrapped in sponges in their private parts.

This is at least safer than the alternatives, it seems...

[Deozaan]

Interesting that this story seems to have cropped up all over the interwebs today, the device itself was developed 5 years ago and I remember seeing it mentioned in an Encyclopedia Dramatica article at least 3 years ago.

I read something in the article about the device being distributed or made available for the World Cup, so maybe that has something to do with it.

[mrainey]

I think that many men, having already committed one violent crime and with the Rape-aXe securely locked on, would be very likely to do some serious harm to the woman.

[J-Mac]

Various rights organizations that work in South Africa declined to comment, including Human Rights Watch and Care International.

I wonder what this means...

Probably means that they had to wait to stop laughing before commenting.

I'm sorry but this has been made into a bad joke. Rape is not funny but every headline/tagline I have read so far has sounded like the author was trying his/her hardest to write the most sarcastic, pun-laden headline. (Are there awards for stupid, thought-to-be-funny headlines?)

Again, the subject matter is not funny at all but let's face it... the whole concept of a toothy female condom is custom-made for the late night hosts' monologues.

Jim