If men just stopped raping, we wouldn’t need the pd.id

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      According to Vancouver Rape Relief and Women's Shelter, women are "bombarded with warnings to modify their behaviour" in order to avoid rape. For instance, women are advised to watch bartenders mix their drinks, limit their alcohol consumption, and never leave their beverages unattended.

      If a $100,000 crowdfunding campaign is successful, women may soon be asked to "adjust" their behaviour in another way. The Toronto-based developers of the pd.id ("Your Personal Drink ID") have already raised over $8,000 on Indiegogo.

      The pd.id is billed as a "small battery-operated device that, when immersed in a beverage, will identify whether the drink has been drugged". The gadget will fit in a pocket and be reusable.

      The Indiegogo page describes the process of using the pd.id:

      Every fluid or drink is made up of a spectrum of molecular components.

      Once immersed, the pd.id collects a tiny sample of the fluid in its reservoir.

      It then performs three different tests to identify the drink and its components.

      Although extremely high tech in function, pd.id is very easy to use. Simply dip, wait a few seconds and the LED light will indicate if your drink has been drugged.

      The pd.id can also pair and function in tandem with your smart phone, accessing an extensive database of drink profiles and alerting you with a text or call that your drink has been tampered with.

      The pd.id is expected to ship in April 2015 at a cost of $75 per device. On Indiegogo, potential users are told to "Empower yourself" with this "revolutionary device".

      Of course, if men just stopped raping, we wouldn’t need the pd.id. "Most rapists are average men," Rape Relief notes in A Feminist Guide to Rape Drugs.

      As Rape Relief argues, "Directions to avoid rape place the responsibility for preventing rape on women, while letting rapists off the hook." The organization maintains that a better solution is "for men to challenge their male friends who choose to attack women by using drugs and alcohol".

      Comments

      12 Comments

      Kibitzer

      Jul 22, 2014 at 11:24am

      So I guess we should ask murderers to stop killing, robbers to stop stealing etc..

      Why didn't anyone think of this before.. It's genius! Hi-5s all around!

      But in seriousness, say we put every man on the planet through a consent bootcamp, do you really think it'll stop rape?

      Cel

      Jul 22, 2014 at 12:21pm

      No harm in using this device. But drink spiking is exceedingly rare.

      http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/6440589/Date-rape-drink-spi...

      " Nick Ross, chair of the Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science, commented: "There is no evidence of widespread use of hypnotics in sexual assault, let alone Rohypnol, despite many attempts to prove the contrary.

      ... Earlier this year, Australian researchers found that nont one of 97 young men and women admitted to hospital over 19 months to two Perth hospital claiming to have had their drinks spiked, had in fact been drugged."

      "Most rapists are average men," Rape Relief notes in A Feminist Guide to Rape Drugs.

      Also false. One scholarly study found that the majority of rape is committed by a small group of serial predators - hardly an "average" man.

      http://www.davidlisak.com/wp-content/uploads/pdf/RepeatRapeinUndetectedR...

      anarchris

      Jul 22, 2014 at 12:31pm

      men don't rape-rapists rape. let the act define the actor

      HellSlayerAndy

      Jul 22, 2014 at 12:38pm

      Ah!
      Yes!
      Let the chaos begin...

      "Did my thingy change colour? It's too dark here to see. Let's go to the bathroom."
      ...with 20 other paranoid gals comparing their Puds.
      What could possibly go wrong!
      Ladies...just stay home...it might be safer. Might.

      Larissa

      Jul 22, 2014 at 12:43pm

      The 'men rape and women are raped' language is misleading. Both women AND men can be rape victims/survivors, and both women AND men can be rapists. The title of this article is inflammatory and causes ignorant knee-jerk reactions like the existing comment on this article (Kibitzer).

      More public education regarding consent absolutely will decrease rape in Canada. There are two kinds of rapists, psychopathic (intentionally causes harm, difficult to prevent), and non-psychopathic rapists (uneducated about consent, very preventable). Non-psychopathic rapists most likely would not commit rape if they realised that that was what they were doing.

      That being said, I hope this device works perfectly, because there could be a lot riding on it. This device could be a great deterrent for the psychopathic rapist who can't be deterred by consent education.

      Davood Hersh

      Jul 22, 2014 at 12:53pm

      Please don't generalize..."If (Men) would just stop raping." This despicable act is performed by sick people although mostly by some men. Let's keep it in perspective. And yes, if people want to consume mood altering beverages they should take every caution available to them including men. Female waitress have been known to double up on amount of alcohol served to men to take advantage of extra tipping and other perks.

      Kibitzer

      Jul 22, 2014 at 1:29pm

      Larissa, I agree my statement is knee-jerk and ignorant... That's the point.

      I never said awareness won't help, but the premise of 'tell men not to rape' is knee-jerk and ignorant. It is the intellectual equivalent of answering 'NO U!' when someone insults you.

      Some people are very interested in understanding the issue, and some are more concerned with coiffing their outrage.

      RUK

      Jul 22, 2014 at 1:57pm

      @Kibitzer

      Do I think that putting every man through anti-rape boot camp would end rape?

      Well, no.

      But do I think that reducing rape is worthwhile and we as a society should think about and experiment with different approaches to achieving that end? Well, yes.

      Just because there is probably no instant panacea against a form of crime doesn't mean that it is worthless to pursue it.

      That dovetails with my comment on Rape Relief's observations to the effect that the onus is being put on women to reduce their vulnerability rather than on men to act in accordance with law and dignity: what's wrong with doing both?

      Yes, certainly, all competent adults have a responsibility to avoid hurting others except in accordance with the law. The rapist is the criminal; the raped person is not a co-conspirator in her or his victimization, legally speaking.

      But practically speaking, do we lock our doors, look both ways before we cross the street even though the light is green, and take our keys and phone with us when we go to the washroom rather than leave them on the table?

      Of course we do. We reduce our victimization profile. That doesn't mean that people who don't do that are asking for it. It means they are extremely trusting - far more trusting than conditions warrant.

      Gary

      Jul 22, 2014 at 2:12pm

      Ah so it's just guys that rape?

      Kibitzer

      Jul 22, 2014 at 2:58pm

      @RUK

      Again I never said that raising awareness isn't worthwhile. It's necessary and will improve things over time.

      My issue is that the premise of 'tell men not to rape' is that this is something we can actually do to end rape as a phenomena. It also creates this vague us VS them dichotomy, when the problem is much more complex than that. Who is 'men'? Explain to me concretely how you're going to accomplish telling all men to stop (@author).

      I know it sucks to be told to be careful in certain situations. It REALLY sucks and I wish it were different but it isn't. However this is not slut-shaming. This is not sexist. It is reasonable advice.