Vagina dentata!

[borghalrantipol.livejournal.com]

While reading the news this morning, an article on brand spanking new vaginal teeth caught my eye.

In the event of rape, the device folds itself around the rapist's penis, attaching to the skin with microscopic hooks. It is only when the rapist withdraws that he will realise the device is clamped around his penis.

"Its design will also go a long way towards lowering HIV infection as semen is contained in the device ... as well as preventing sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies," Ehlers says.

As it is impossible to remove the device from a penis without medical help, hospitals and clinics will be able to alert police when assistance is sought.

My only concern with this is that once the rapist finds one of these attached to him, he'd be far more likely to do further violence. Perhaps a device equipped with a sedative as well is in order?

(I really don't think any of this is triggering, but if it is, please let me know and I'll be happy to put it under a cut.)

Comments

[maclyn.livejournal.com]

Assuming this is for real, there's no way it would help lower HIV rates. Metal teeth biting into a penis = blood freaking everywhere.

[femmearchetype.livejournal.com]

that's what i was thinking?

[borghalrantipol.livejournal.com]

This isn't the little tampon dealie with the spike sticking out of it that was going around a while back (that was most definitely a hoax), it's more of a chinese finger trap sort of device. According to the article, it doesn't draw blood, it just sticks and won't let the man pee until a doctor removes it.

[brn-eyd-grl.livejournal.com]

The only thing that I think might be better about the "little tampon dealie with the spike sticking out of it" is that with that one, the pain is instanst as soon as the rapist puts his penis into the vagina, no doubt causing him not to go any further with penetration as soon as he feels the spike digging in. But, with this device, it says that it doesn't work until the rapist withdraws...so the woman is already raped.

[overtaking.livejournal.com]

exactly. so it can protect you from pregnancy/diseases possibly, but you're still left with the fact that you have been raped.

i'm sure a man invented this one.

[brn-eyd-grl.livejournal.com]

indeed

[borghalrantipol.livejournal.com]

Read the article before you jump to conclusions, it was invented by a woman named Sonette Ehlers.

It does suck that it doesn't do anything towards prevention, I'm still contemplating whether it would actually be worth it or not in most cases. I'm hoping that this will lead to other, more debilitating (for the rapist,t hat is) inventions.

[brn-eyd-grl.livejournal.com]

yeah, got that, thanks

[brn-eyd-grl.livejournal.com]

oops, actually we're wrong...it was a woman...

Ehlers, of Kleinmond, who has worked for the South African Institute for Medical Research, said she had been seeking a way to help women since meeting a rape survivor 20 years ago who commented that she wished she had teeth in her vagina.

[robynchick.livejournal.com]

Actually, the article says it was a woman. It was inspired by a rape victim who wished out loud that she had had teeth in her vagina.

[overtaking.livejournal.com]

i should've read it first, and i appreciate the fact that this woman is trying to do something, but i'm still echoing the sentiments of: why does it only clench when the penis is coming out? i'm not trying to be judgemental at all, but i would like to think that someone would try to make it so it's an immediate jolt.

i guess nothing is perfect, and every good step is an improvement, but still..

[nirbhao.livejournal.com]

engorged penis at that

[scurly80.livejournal.com]

ok my main problem I see with this is that you can not predict being raped so you would have to wear it all the time

[etiquette.livejournal.com]

exactly.

[borghalrantipol.livejournal.com]

It's true, the article makes mention of this. However, it seems that the rates of both rape and HIV where this was invented are high enough that it would probably be worth it. Just make sure to take it out before you have sex with someone you really want to have sex with, heh.

[jandrofrachini.livejournal.com]

I didn't see anything about whether or not it had an on/off switch-type dealie. Does it just clamp onto any penis that gets in there, or can you pick and choose?

[femmearchetype.livejournal.com]

i think it's just any penis. so if you are ready to have sex you'd have to take it out.

[xsaltyx.livejournal.com]

Just don't get your finger trapped in there!

[begraven.livejournal.com]

My concern is that it doesn't prevent the rape. It only helps in catching the rapist. To me this says it's okay for the rape to happen as long as we can catch the perp!

If this is real and not a hoax and the can really do this then they could do something to prevent the rape too!

[borghalrantipol.livejournal.com]

That was my concern as well, yes he gets caught, but a great deal of damage has already been done, possibly more than would have been in the first place after he finds something stuck to his dick, gets pissed, and lashes out at his victim. Hence my desire for some sort of sedative delivery system.

However, in South Africa, where rates of both rape and HIV are incredibly high, I suppose it's better than nothing.

[nirbhao.livejournal.com]

South Africa is also the country with the elephant gun car alarm.

[starsorstreet.livejournal.com]

what?

[ilikemytie.livejournal.com]

do they still have that? I thought that people weren't allowed to do that there anymore.

[nirbhao.livejournal.com]

I could be behind on the news

[pirogoeth.livejournal.com]

I would not want to shove metal teeth with hooks, no matter how microscopic, into my coochie everyday before I head out.

Another commenter also made a good point. Maybe it would catch all the semen, but blood would surely be drawn with those hooks, creating another HIV risk.

Personally, I think, if it's real, this is just helping women who are already over-paranoid be even more so.

Um...

[ex-leopardp.livejournal.com]

I second what maclyn said. No way would this reduce HIV rates. However, it would probably just end up causing anal and oral rapes to happen more.

Re: Um...

[nectar001.livejournal.com]

It sounds like it would dramatically increase HIV risk. (How do you know the hooks wouldn't scratch the interior of the wearer's vagina?) Not to mention that the perp would certainly be more prone to violence if he had a hooked thing stuck in his cock.

What a terrible idea.

Re: Um...

[ex-leopardp.livejournal.com]

And once again, if they suspect that a woman is using this, why not just anally rape her? Or forced oral with a knife to her throat?
*shudder*

Good intentions, but I see nothing good coming of it.

[msretro.livejournal.com]

There was something like this in Neal Stephenson's book [i]Snowcrash[/i]. Incidentally, a character forgot she was wearing one before having sex.

I smell either an inventor who's a cyber-punk fan or a hoax.

[starsorstreet.livejournal.com]

ditto

[nirbhao.livejournal.com]

ah, lj is being cranky with me... the elephant gun is apparently too bootleg... here's the info I can find conveniently on the interweb for you:

http://www.gettingit.com/article/69

[borghalrantipol.livejournal.com]

That was a good book, but I don't think this particular device was inspired by it. I actually think that the one depiced in Snowcrash which knocks the rapist out immediately would be a better idea instead of the one in the article, which sticks to the rapist until he has to go to a medical professional to get it removed and is thereby caught, but it's a start.

[starsorstreet.livejournal.com]

I didn't read the article, because I'm at work.

To my knowledge a device such as thing was invented first many many moons ago, but was of course never released on the market.

I can't even carry pepperspray legally in my province, let alone a penis-trap.

[nirbhao.livejournal.com]

http://www.gettingit.com/article/69

I can't find the elephant gun info-- that's too bootleg. it's pretty nasty there.

[robynchick.livejournal.com]

The idea is terrible applied to women in SAFE countries like ours when we never know if someday we (maybe) might be raped. It's a relatively rare occurance here but what about for women in Sudan?

In Darfur for instance, men do not leave the camp to gather firewood for fear of being killed so they send their women out. The women aren't killed but the second they see soldiers they are systematically gang raped. This often leaves the women with a terrible stigma and the men with no consequences.

If the women who left the camp each wore one of these devices they might have a better chance of changing the fear campaign against them. They might put a little bit of the problem back into the hands of the rapists and they might even increase their chances of survival. As these attacks are entirely too common and often brutal and even deadly. I can see them being helpful in a situation like this.

So no, it would be silly for we protected, privileged people to wear them but there are women in africa who might be protected from pregnancy and HIV when raped!

[ilikemytie.livejournal.com]

United States is far from a safe country. . . women all over the US are being raped, even as we discuss this. Personally, I tend to go out at nights quite a bit. Dancing, dining, etc. I would love to have one of these in case I ever found myself alone on the streets. I loathe having to walk to my car at night from clubs, etc.

[robynchick.livejournal.com]

Right, but relative to Darfur where women are raped many multiple times, it would be impractical to insert one of these all day, every day. What if you forgot it and heavens forbid had consensual sex! Yikes!

I just wonder how we would insert them before leaving a club or entering a dark alleyway...

[lizs18.livejournal.com]

As a sexual assault survivor, and someone schooled in self-defense (which I advocate for everyone) and someone who likes to go out, I would love to have something like this. It would definitely make me feel more comfortable and safe when I go out. And however a sexual assaulter reacts is not 'because of' the device, it is because they are a violent and abusive person. I see it as an option that is available to people with vaginas concerned about sexual assault. Like other self-defense tools, (mace, etc.) it doesn't appeal to all, but I think it's great to have at our disposal.

[burnedxoutxstar.livejournal.com]

Wow, that was a lot of whining about how this device doesn't prevent the actual raping. Rape prevention is virtually impossible, as rapists are obviously sick, twisted people. So how would you guys go about *preventing* twisted minds? Sterilization for anyone suspected of having sexually violent tendencies? It's just not at all feasible. And I am saying this as a sexual assault survivor who would LOVE to be able to think it's preventable. The only thing we can really do is protect ourselves as best as possible.

[kira-lynn.livejournal.com]

Actually, rape prevention is preventable.

Rapists are not just random sick monsters, they are products of our society - our society needs to change.

[kira-lynn.livejournal.com]

*Actually, rape prevention is possible

[ilikemytie.livejournal.com]

this is kind of scary. . . there's a series of Tanith Lee books that are short stories taking place in this pseudo-frenchy kind of country, and one of the stories was about a man who killed his new bride because when he put his fingers to her "lips," she bit him. . .

Also reminded of the Vulgar Unicorn series. . . there was a madame in there that had a sort of bear trap thing in her vagina. . .

[mays-rays.livejournal.com]

OT, but Tanith Lee is amazing. What's the title of that series?

[ilikemytie.livejournal.com]

It's like the "Secret Books of Paradys" or something like that. I know there's like four;
"Book of the Damned"
"Book of the Mad"
"Book of the Beast"
"Book of the Dead"

I am not sure which one it is in. . . I'm pretty sure it's not the Damned, though. I think the Mad is all about the girl in the mental asylum, but hmmm. . . it's been a long time. I have them all and could look, but they're all in boxes. (Mid-move)

[granolagrrrl.livejournal.com]

I feel very conflicted about this device. I can see were it might be beneficial to some women that live in some circumstances, but I am also concerned about mis-use. I know more men are sociopaths than women, but lets face it, there are a few women running around that are pyschos, too. What happens when a sister out for indiscriminate revenge against the males of the species nabs some poor clueless shmuck she met in a bar? I am sorry that this is my first thought here. I do feel very badly about the problem of rape.

[fuckyoucunt.livejournal.com]

you are the only person who commented with something different... that is completely true, good input.

[finding_helena]

Aside from the obvious, my main concern is for the poor woman's boyfriend when she comes home and forgets she's wearing it.

[ameforstars.livejournal.com]

or, imagine wearing it and forgetting... and performing the sweet act of self nookie. or having a partner use hands/tongues/etc.

now, that would be an interesting trip to the hospital....