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Reuters South Africa anti-rape condom aims to stop attacks Wed Aug 31,11:46 AM ET KLEINMOND, South Africa (Reuters) - A South African inventor unveiled a n ew anti-rape female condom on Wednesday that hooks onto an attacker's pe nis and aims to cut one of the highest rates of sexual assault in the wo rld.
"Nothing has ever been done to help a woman so that she does not get rape d and I thought it was high time," Sonette Ehlers, 57, said of the "rape x", a device worn like a tampon that has sparked controversy in a countr y used to daily reports of violent crime. Police statistics show more than 50,000 rapes are reported every year, wh ile experts say the real figure could be four times that as they say mos t rapes of acquaintances or children are never reported. Ehlers said the "rapex" hooks onto the rapist's skin, allowing the victim time to escape and helping to identify perpetrators. "He will obviously be too pre-occupied at this stage," she told reporters in Kleinmond, a small holiday village about 100km (60 miles) east of Ca pe Town. The device, made of latex and held firm by shafts of sharp barbs, can onl y be removed from the man through surgery which will alert hospital staf f, and ultimately, the police, she said.
HIV /AIDS than any other country, with one in nine of its 45 million populati on 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 o n a live man. But the "rapex" has raised fears amongst anti-rape activists that it coul d 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, adv ocacy co-ordinator for Rape Crisis. Other critics say the condom is mediaeval and barbaric -- an accusation E hlers says should be directed rather at the act of rape.
South African inventor Sonette Ehlers demonstrates her new anti-rape female condom in Cape Town, South Africa August 31, 2005. Ehlers unveile d a new anti-rape female condom on Wednesday that hooks onto an attacker 's penis and aims to cut one of the highest rates of sexual assault in t he world. Police statistics show more than 50,000 rapes are reported eve ry year, while experts say the real figure could be four times that as t hey say most rapes of acquaintances or children are never reported.
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