Vagina Teeth

I was reading the "MetroNews" paper this morning (crappy paper handed out at subway stations like "Express" in DC) but I discovered this article: "African doctor's anti-rape condom has teeth, critics." A female doctor in South Africa has invented a female condom which has tiny hooks that attached themselves to a rapist's penis and can only be removed in a hospital. The hooks do not cut the attackers skin (somehow I don't exactly understand how this works) which reduces the chances of HIV. Dr. Sonnet Ehlers who invented the condom said that "she was inspired by a rape victim who told her: 'If only I had teeth down there.'" "Dr. Ehlers says the device is vital to help women who in a country with one of the highest rates of rape in the world. A survey by South Africa's Medical Council found that 1 in 4 women in the country say they have been raped." Criticism: "Women would have to wear this every minute of their lives on the off-chance that they would be raped,' said Lisa Vetten, from the South African Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.

Personally, I'm on the fence. On the one hand, the device could reduce the number of rape victims during times of conflict where rape is used as a systematic way to defeat the will power of another group (once men lose control of their women, what do they have really?). For example, in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo), millions of women have been raped by forces on all sides, to the point that that now they can't leave their homes without fear of attack. This device would give them back their independence and sense of control. However, this is only a short-term solution. Rather than treating the symptoms, we need to treat the disease. We need to address the problems in society that cause such a high rate of violence against women, primarily the belief that men have a right to dominate women. Women have been identified as the means through which a population continues, so if you attack the women, you break the people. Men need to acknowledge that they have an equal stake in society b/c it takes two people to make a new person. Overall, the question is "does the device give women a sense of power and control over their bodies or does it only breed fear of all men? Honestly, I just don't know.

Lots of Love,
Lady Lola