A female condom-like device that latches on to a rapist's penis with fish-tooth-like hooks is stirring controversy in South Africa, where the incidence of sexual assault is high, according to a published report.
Called "Rapex," the latex device inserted in the vagina is the brainchild of South African Sonet Ehlers, who has been thinking about an anti-rape device since 1969, when she met a young rape victim, Agence France-Presse reported.
"If you have seen a woman that has been raped, she is alive yet she is dead," Ehlers told AFP from her home in Kleinmond, a holiday town about 75 miles east of Cape Town.
"My biggest drive is to help the woman out," says Ehlers, 57, a mother of two daughters.
According to the story, Rapex attaches itself to the shaft of the penis and can only be removed by a surgeon, forcing a rapist to go to a hospital, where the crime would presumably be uncovered.
"He has got to turn himself in at the nearest hospital and then the police will catch him," said Ehlers, who added that the device does not cause any permanent injury to the man's penis.
"This is not a tool to punish men, but a device to empower women," she told AFP.
Ehlers hopes to put her device - which can be kept inside the vagina for up to 24 hours - on sale in South Africa next year at the cost of a rand (0.13 euros/0.16 US dollars), the story said.
But organizations such as Rape Crisis Cape Town say Rapex is not the solution to South Africa's sexual assault problem, with more than 52,000 rapes reported per year.
"We are going back to the 15th century. It's not empowering women, it increases their vulnerability to violence and murder," Rape Crisis director Chantel Cooper told AFP.
"It's not progressive at all, this is like a chastity belt. We need to understand that the safety of women is not an individual responsibility, but a societal issue."
About 40 percent of rape victims in South Africa are under the age of 18, according to the report.
The device also protects women against sexually-transmitted disease including AIDS and unwanted pregnancy.
