AR Wear’s Anti Rape Underpants (VIDEO)

Rape and sexual assaults on women is just as much a problem in the Middle East as it is in the west, although the “flavor” of assault differs somewhat. Think of Lara Logan, the US journalist assaulted by numerous men while reporting from the streets of Cairo. But with AR Wear, new anti-cut, anti-rape undies, could sexual assaults and date rapes of the future be prevented?

Ruth and Yuval (possibly Israelis?) who have invented AR Wear say that they want to prevent rape and that they want their product out there to help illuminate the problem.

Using straps and webbing that can’t be cut or ripped open, these anti-rape pants are fashioned into boxers for active chicks, or ones who even run.

With a small part of their Indiegogo money raised ($5,242 from 50,000 – with 20 days left), inventors of the protection pants will give discounts to those who fund their endeavour.

Watch the video of AR Wear to see how the anti-rape undies work:

Inventors of AR Wear say: “We developed this product so that women and girls could have more power to control the outcome of a sexual assault…We read studies reviewing the statistics of resisting assault, whether by forceful or non-forceful means.

“We learned that resistance increases the chance of avoiding a completed rape without making the victim more likely to be physically injured. We concluded that an item of clothing that creates an effective barrier layer can allow women and girls to passively resist an attacker, in addition to any other form of resistance they may be able to carry out at the time of an assault.”

TV journalist Lara Logan was attacked in Cairo in 2011 while exposing the street protests there. Had she been wearing AR Wear, could the attacks have been curbed earlier? There are countless other assaults continuing in Cairo, so much that women have launched a platform to help other women avoid attacks in the future. See Harassmap.

Devices or solutions that protect women from sexual harm isn’t new. In the 16th century chastity belts were conceived to protect the virginity of both women and men. The metallic belts were not comfortable nor hygienic and their use hasn’t caught on, even in Middle East countries that staunchly guard the virginity of their girls. In Israel young Muslim women who dishonor their family by having sex before marriage are simply killed.

There was a penis eating anti-rape device developed for women in South Africa called the Rape-aXe. The internally-worn condom-like device was made to “bite” any unwanted penis that penetrated a woman’s vagina.

The device (pictured left) would leave spines in the attacker’s member forcing him to uncover his crime at a hospital or clinic where the spines could be removed. The company has a website but it’s not clear if the product is for sale. 

Drawbacks a) women would have to wear the device all the time which sees pretty unreasonable, and b) critics say that the inventor doesn’t understand the nature of rape against women, where a certain and important percentage of women are raped by men they know.

I think I’ll back the idea by AR Wear instead.