I heard about this recently on NPR on my drive home from work and I thought it was brilliant. Some women are worried that men will retaliate, though, and just end up murdering the woman. I think the country needs to be anti-rape and supportive of convicting these horrible men before it will be effective.
I agree. I heard about this quite a while back. I think it's fantastic, but South Africa has a lot on its plate. The rape rates there are mind-blowing. I was talking to an AIDS orphanage there about working with them for a while, and everyone was pretty much like, if you're white and in South Africa, plan on getting rape.
So, yeah. It's good, but there's a lot more that need to be done, and I do kind of worry about retaliation. It sounds like you could make a pretty good get away, though, while they guy has spikes in his dick. I don't know for sure, but it seems like they have more stranger rape (as opposed to the high rates of non-stranger rape we have here) so hopefully the guy wouldn't know how to find her? later...?
I think...that kind of freaks me out. I'm not really sure if that would be effective--if you were in a position where you were already being raped, and already having (presumably) resisted, would you be in any position to really escape while the rapist is nursing his tender member, so to speak? I think that if you had the foresight to use it, and then were assulted, you definitely run the risk of further physical harm, especially if you were bound/injured in any way and wouldn't be able to get away from the assulter.
Half of all assaults against women (sexual or otherwise) are ended by the first show of resistance. Yelling loud is enough to do it.
And in the vast, vast majority of them (95%), there's no violence outside of the rape itself -- the woman submits to being raped due to verbal coercion. No getting bound, no getting injured except inasmuch as rape itself is a violent injury. (I teach women's self-defense, is why I know.)
My first guess is that this would be most effective in that it might make women feel confident enough to resist in the first place. And quite possibly it would break off an assault, although I'm not sure what the statistics look like for increased risk of injury if the resistance starts during the assault. My guess is that one is better off resisting _at any point_ rather than submitting entirely, but I'm not sure. (And of course that's easier to say than it is to do.)
Honestly, I was particularly interested in your response to this because of what you do. I'm so glad you decided to comment! Having been in a similar situation where the threat of violence was subtle and primarily verbal coersion was used, I'm not sure that a condom of that sort would have helped me at all. I don't think I would have felt confident enough to use it or threaten to use it. If I felt that I could have used any kind of resistance at all I would have, but the psychology of the victim is so deep and complicated that I'm just not sure an object or tool would have done me much good. I guess that's why I posted the link. Stranger rape is almost non-existent and I don't think many women would want or be prepared to use something like that with someone they knew.
Thanks! I'm always a little uneasy when I post about this stuff into other people's journals, because I can so easily get on a soapbox, so it's delightful to know my opinion is sought out!
It is immensely complicated. I see self-defense very much as a set of tools; once you have them you can make a deliberate decision about whether or not you're going to use them. I encourage my students to think long & hard about what they're willing to do to maintain their safety -- would they physically fight back against a boyfriend? Against a relative? That sort of thing.
The condom seems like another tool to me, and an interesting one because it's a passive tool -- it's a form of self-defense that doesn't give agency to the woman. I can see the appeal of it, but at the same time, I have some theories (purely personal, mind) that part of the reason resistance works is that it humanises the woman. It's harder to see someone as an object when they're strenuously resisting being objectified. So in that sense, a passive form of self-defense
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okay so I know this is a serious topic...but I really must pause and say: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! Yes I have a reason for the outburst. Picture it- Cyberhall, Norman, Oklahoma....late 1990's. James Hernandez, Amy Anderson, Myself, blondebaby1213, Travis Hibbs, and Nikki Khana....we discussed the Vagina Dentata. There was a comment about a vagina with teeth running across the room and under the couch. There was much laughter.
btw, unfortunately NO, I do not feel it would be effective. I believe it would only piss off the rapist and end up making things much worse for the victim.
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So, yeah. It's good, but there's a lot more that need to be done, and I do kind of worry about retaliation. It sounds like you could make a pretty good get away, though, while they guy has spikes in his dick. I don't know for sure, but it seems like they have more stranger rape (as opposed to the high rates of non-stranger rape we have here) so hopefully the guy wouldn't know how to find her? later...?
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however, it is a pretty awesomely vicious idea.
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And in the vast, vast majority of them (95%), there's no violence outside of the rape itself -- the woman submits to being raped due to verbal coercion. No getting bound, no getting injured except inasmuch as rape itself is a violent injury. (I teach women's self-defense, is why I know.)
My first guess is that this would be most effective in that it might make women feel confident enough to resist in the first place. And quite possibly it would break off an assault, although I'm not sure what the statistics look like for increased risk of injury if the resistance starts during the assault. My guess is that one is better off resisting _at any point_ rather than submitting entirely, but I'm not sure. (And of course that's easier to say than it is to do.)
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It is immensely complicated. I see self-defense very much as a set of tools; once you have them you can make a deliberate decision about whether or not you're going to use them. I encourage my students to think long & hard about what they're willing to do to maintain their safety -- would they physically fight back against a boyfriend? Against a relative? That sort of thing.
The condom seems like another tool to me, and an interesting one because it's a passive tool -- it's a form of self-defense that doesn't give agency to the woman. I can see the appeal of it, but at the same time, I have some theories (purely personal, mind) that part of the reason resistance works is that it humanises the woman. It's harder to see someone as an object when they're strenuously resisting being objectified. So in that sense, a passive form of self-defense ( ... )
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btw, unfortunately NO, I do not feel it would be effective. I believe it would only piss off the rapist and end up making things much worse for the victim.
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