The Trouble With RapeAXE

Posted by Carina Kolodny on September 13th, 2010

Resident Blogger, Vagina warrior and sex educator Carina Kolodny on her issues with the newly developed RapeAXE anti rape condom.

Talk about being a vagina warrior. Enter: vaginal teeth. The RapeAXE condom is making international headlines with its promise to help protect rape victims. It’s a vaginal insert that women can use in situations where there might be a heightened chance of violation. When a man inserts his penis the RapeAXE condom will clamp down, inserting barbs into the member that can only be removed by a doctor. The developers behind RapeAXE claim a host of benefits: preventing a woman from contracting an STI or getting impregnated by her rapist, stopping a rape right as it begins and helping to incriminate rapists.

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This all sounds very good theoretically but I have strong reservations. First and foremost, the entire concept is based on a flawed assumption.

The RapeAXE condom assumes that rape is about sex. It isn’t. Rape is about power. Sex is the weapon, not the end goal. A rapist isn’t going to respond to having his penis barbed by saying, “well I guess I can’t have anymore sex tonight.” If a violent, power-crazed individual loses one weapon, they simply find another. I think RapeAXE only serves to make the rapist more angry, more likely to beat or kill his victim.

Beyond this, I think RapeAXE is legally shaky. A rapist can easily claim that his rape victim set him up. He could try and charge her with assault.

Creating new technology is good, important and helps to propel us forward. However, in this case, I think that maybe instead we should focus on raising, mentoring, inspiring strong, and whole young men. We should teach that women are equal and should be respected as such. We should demystify and de-taboo sex.

As to the fact that we live in a world that has to arm a woman’s vagina to prevent her from rape? It’s just terribly, terribly sad.

This post is by our resident blogger Carina Kolodny

Carina Kolodny is a writer and expert coffee shop loiterer based out of NYC. When not writing (or loitering) she can usually be found traveling the world or jumping out of airplanes. She became interested in HIV education while working with the Red Cross in Fiji. This was an enriching though terrifying experience as she hates snakes almost as much as she hates grammar. She counts Fiji, Cuba and Tanzania as second homes and strongly believes in the power of self love and red lipstick.

Have you heard about this RapeAXE condom? What are your thoughts? A needed form of protection for women who are at risk of rape? Or a tool that in a rape situation would only make things worse for the victim?

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7 Comments...
  1. Verse says:
    September 13, 2010 at 5:17 pm

    Carina sayz that all these advantages of the rapeaxe device are mere assumptions (maybe, maybe not), but accordin to her piece she talks from assumptions too.. what she predicts! i still think they are worth the effort! if they work out they are of more good than if they aint tried.

  2. Kim says:
    September 14, 2010 at 1:33 am

    Carina raises important points that not everyone may consider when deciding whether to use RapeAXE. I know I was stunned enough just by the mental image of the thing that the points she made hadn’t come to my mind. Of course every situation and every person (on either side of the RapeAXE) is unique. But women should not put absolute trust in this little fortress any more than birth control companies can put a 100% protection against pregnancy on their own products. There are those .1% chances of the unexpected. Someone using RapeAXE should understand, as Carina said, that rape isn’t necessarily about sex and that, while vagina-fangs might send some offenders off howling, some may simply become infuriated and see it as provocation or a means to abuse the woman in the court system. It’s difficult enough for rape victims to face their attackers during their cases – can you imagine if your defense were put on trial? Maybe the law will take this into consideration, but this issue is not all so simple. I don’t think Carina’s points were intended as predictions as much as they were insight into realizing that even the vagina-fangs cannot protect someone from ALL the possible consequences of rape and harassment.

    I especially agree with advocating better mentorship of youth and young adults – teaching men and women respect for self and others, and better educating them not only in the “practicals” of sex and protection but helping them to understand the emotional complexities involved. It’s a difficult approach – harder to see and test the results – and not the terrifyingly powerful visual image of the RapeAXE (by the way, does it need to be registered as a concealed weapon, or is it just kind of like wearing a spiked collar choker?). But better mentoring is the method that is most respectful of everyone. Call it karma, call it Gandhi’s idea of being the change you wish to see, call it plain good parenting and community-building… If we have any chance of ever being a society where people don’t feel that they need to go to such lengths to protect themselves against a future attack… then encouraging all that is good in people and raising the bar is where it’s at.

  3. Alice Goldberg says:
    September 15, 2010 at 11:39 am

    I think that the RapeAXE in concept is a good idea, and has good motives behind it, but find it hard to believe that it could be used successfully. First of all, I’m not sure how many girls get dressed to go out and think about their own chances of getting raped, thus inserting the RapeAXE.
    Second of all, the condom could be seen as an attack of the girl upon the rapist which as Carina said could implement charges on the victim.
    Although it is so amazing to see such concern for rape victims and to prevent such an awful thing happening, i don’t think that the RapeAXE condom is going to work effectively as it has been perceived. The best way to prevent rape is to teach girls how to be cautious when out, and follow simple instructions as we were taught, to never leave a drink and then go back to it, always make sure you know who you are out and going home with,don’t take unlicensed cabs etc.
    We shouldn’t have to think about the chances of being raped when getting ready to leave the house.

  4. Carina says:
    September 15, 2010 at 8:58 pm

    I really love all the thoughtful comments and am touched that everybody felt compelled to respond so thoroughly. I completely agree with Kim and Alice–RapeAXE is nice in theory but probably won’t pan out so well in practice. It will definitely be interesting to see where this technology goes.

    As for Verse’s comments, I am certainly making some assumptions. Since there is no precedent for this type of device, I have no idea what the legal implications of the RapeAXE anti-rape condom would be. I can only conjecture. What I was getting at primarily was the fact that the entire theory about RapeAXE is based on a misunderstanding. That misunderstanding is the intention behind rape.

  5. Martha Kundwe says:
    September 16, 2010 at 6:43 am

    wow, , i have never even heard of this RapeAXE condom before bt i had a lengthy talk about this with my class . . We are amazed but really im just happy i learnt somthng new :D thanks Carina . .

  6. Bemysweet says:
    September 20, 2010 at 5:19 am

    wowwwwww!!! Bula Carina!, I’m Joey from Fiji wow what a brilliant idea I have never heard about this RapeAXE condom before, I’m wondering of how we could get some of this condom.

    Vinaka
    Joey.

  7. Tina says:
    December 1, 2010 at 1:03 pm

    I don’t agree with you on this matter. I think your view is limited only to America and the uses of RapeAXE there. In other countries where forced prostitution and sexual abuse are rife, this device can save a life. Girls who are raped in some countries are scorned by society and sometimes their own families as they are considered “dirty”, “impure” and are generally thought to have brought it upon themselves. RapeAXE can prevent such a fate for a girl or woman and if enough women use it, it can deter men from rape in the first place. RapeAXE also prevents STDs so the rape victim doesn’t have to be infected with an STD or worse, HIV. Rape is a traumatic experience which has long-lasting psychological effects, getting infected with HIV by the rapist makes it a life sentence and may eventually kill the victim in the end.

    In developed countries, rape may be better tackled by educating men as you have resources to do so. It will be a long and slow process in other parts of the world where women are still considered objects, possessions and replaceable. In these countries, RapeAXE would be an effective deterrent to rape.

    Also have you ever considered that for a man to be injured by RapeAXE, he would have to have penetrated the vagina, thereby already committing rape? There is no grey area in rape. No means no. Sexual penetration obtained by force or coercion is rape.

    For the record, I’m from South East Asia and I’ve seen my fair share of prostitutes and underage sex workers. I’ve also encountered the negative mentality that some societies have towards victims of rape. I believe education and opportunity are the best tools but there will always be rape, even in developed countries. In the meantime, any tool we have to prevent and protect women and girls from this horrible crime is welcome.

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