R.I.S.E. Together: November 2013

Believe it or not a South African inventor has created a condom to help prevent rape. Yes you read that correctly, a condom.

"Nothing has ever been done to help a woman so that she does not get raped and I thought it was high time," Sonette Ehlers.

The “Rapex” is a device worn like a tampon, but made of latex like a real condom. When the rapist tries to enter the woman’s vagina he is held firmly in place by shafts of sharp barbs that latch onto the perpetrators penis and can only be removed from the man through surgery.

"He will obviously be too preoccupied at this stage…I promise you he is going to be too sore. He will go straight to hospital.”

The condom is made of latex and this allows time for the victim to escape and help identify the perpetrators. It also reduces the chances of a woman falling pregnant or contracting AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases from the attacker.

Elhers goal is to cut down one of the highest rates of sexual assault in the world.

“Police statistics show more than 50,000 rapes are reported every year, while experts say the real figure could be four times that as they say most rapes of acquaintances or children are never reported. South Africa has more people with HIV/AIDS than any other country, with one in nine of its 45 million population infected.”

So what’s the down side?

"If a victim is wearing such a device it may enrage the attacker further and possibly result in more harm being caused," said Sam Waterhouse, advocacy co-ordinator for Rape Crisis.

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. All in all I’m just glad someone is doing something about rape, and it is still the woman’s choice if she wants to use this method. This however does not stop molestation, or other forms of abuse.