Fem Defence

This Swedish site is both thought-provoking and disturbing. Fem Defence is a tampon-like device that doesn’t so much protect women from rape as guarantee punishment for the rapist. The real intent of the site, which uses realistic advertising for an imaginary product, is to take discussion of sexual violence against women to a higher level. It does that; the device itself produces a visceral response, which is precisely the point. Have we become so desensitized to violence against women that only reciprocal violence against men will get us to consider other options for ending sexual violence altogether? The answer may be yes. The inventor notes that the anxiety produced in men who look at the device is very effective in getting them to empathize with women’s anxiety about rape.