First came the anti-rape condom, which - in case of rape - will trap the assailant’s penis on “sharp barbs”. Now comes the anti-rape chastity belt.

It has been designed by a 19 year old Swedish girl, Nadja Bjoerk.

She said: “You need two hands to open it, so the rapist can’t hold you down and open it at the same time. It takes a while to figure it out if you don’t know what you’re doing.”

Now, anything that stops rape sounds like a good thing. But women should not have to go around with a barbed condom inside them, or a chastity belt in order to feel safe.

Women should not have to live in fear - or to take such drastic protective measures. This is just wrong. And probably encourages a culture of victimhood.

It makes me incredibly sad to think that this type of device is being lauded as a viable solution to the problem of rape. Consider the facts - ‘stranger danger’ is in fact something of a misnomer - women are far more likely to be raped by people they know, in a setting in which they are highly unlikely to adopt this type of ‘protection’. Would you wear a chastity belt on a date?! Very unlikely.

Posted by Jess McCabe on 6 December 2005, at 3:18 PM