April 4, 2006
OPINIONSFemale condom designed to prevent rape sends mixed messages
A female condom made in South Africa called Rapex is aimed at identifying and stopping men who attempt to rape women.
The condom is worn inside a woman and has small hooks on the inside that will cling onto a man’s penis when forced inside her vagina.
When this happens, the man will be in excruciating pain, giving the victim time to escape.
The condom can only be removed surgically which will give the hospital the man goes to time to notify the police.
I understand why this condom is being glorified by some as a way to prevent and stop rapists; however, I feel the condom could do more harm than good.
I believe that if a woman is raped and is wearing this condom, it will only enrage the man further.
There is no guarantee that the man will not automatically become extremely violent. Therefore, the woman who was being raped, and had a chance of living through the act, may now be brutally beaten and possibly killed.
Once a rapist finds out about the condom and the possibility that any woman may be wearing one, the man may “test” to see if she is wearing it.
The man could use foreign objects to find out, which will only cause more pain to the woman. If she is, and the man is successful at removing it, he will still rape the woman.
Thus, the condom will not be serving its purpose.
A woman wearing the condom is only being “protected” against vaginal intercourse.
There is no protection against other forms of rape. Anal rape, oral rape, and gang rape are still possibilities.
If a woman is gang raped and the first man is injured by the condom, I believe it would almost be a guarantee that the woman will be severely beaten if not killed by the other men.
While all these instances would hurt women, I believe the message it sends is far more damaging.
By telling women to wear the condom as a form of defense, we are sending the message that rape is inevitable-that it is something that a woman will most likely experience at some point in her life.
We are teaching them to live in fear.
In my opinion, rape is one of the most brutal, degrading, and horrible acts a man can commit against a woman, or vice versa.
But that does not mean that I live in fear of it.
I do not wake up in the morning and think that today might be the day that I am raped.
We need to teach women to be stong, independent individuals who are not living in fear.
It is always good to be alert to prevent being harmed in any way, but putting a foreign object in a woman’s body with claws on it is not the answer.
I’m not even sure if it is morally sound.
This new invention has good thought behind it.
There should be better ways to protect women from rape.
However, I’m not sure if this is the best, or safest, way to get it done.
Volume 43, Issue 12. Today is
