S. Africa anti-rape condom to stop attacks
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-09-02 07:00

South Africa has more people with HIV/AIDS than any other country, with one in nine of its 45 million population infected.

Ehlers, who showed off a prototype on Wednesday, said women had tried it for comfort and it had been tested on a plastic male model but not yet on a live man. Production was planned to start next year.

But the "rapex" has raised fears amongst anti-rape activists that it could escalate violence against women.

"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.

Other critics say the condom is mediaeval and barbaric -- an accusation Ehlers says should be directed rather at the act of rape.

"This is not about vengeance ... but the deed, that is what I hate," she said.

Close

Jolin Tsai Tomato fight! Male nurses in Beijing

Today's Top News     Top Life News
Tibet sees forty years of marked progress         New Orleans in anarchy with fights, rapes         Typhoon pounds Fujian, forcing evacuation         Foreign missile umbrella on Taiwan opposed         Video: Al-Qaida behind London blasts         Numerous pacts for EU-China summit	Convenience key to premarital physicals       Student gets clipped after massage turns nasty       Tomato fight! Spaniards hold annual rite       Family to protect Che's iconic image       A Chinese painter's new struggle: to meet demand       Venice rolls out red carpet with Chinese epic