An omnidirectiional stink bomb that the woman activates when being attacked that coats her and anyone nearby with a disgusting smell (perhaps skunklike) that makes her impossible to be close to. This would repel sexual predators, as well as other attackers. The woman would have noseplugs to diminish the effects on her.
The smell would also mark her attempted attacker so the police and other potential victims could be aware of him. Easy to track with dogs too.
Interestingly, areas that there were many attacks would smell worse and worse until noone would use them any more for attack fear as well as the smell.
Even if the attackers got wise and brought their own noseplugs, they would still be smellmarked© if they attacked.-- macrumpton, May 17 2004 Trident http://www.merseywo...ecure/paalarms.htmlStinky rape alarm [spacemoggy, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004] Given the stigma felt by many victims of rape, marking them with a revolting smell might not be the most sensible thing in the world.
If you are hoping to exploit the sense of smell when designing a defence mechanism for potential rape victims I suggest you think harder.-- dobtabulous, May 17 2004 Given that the idea is to prevent the attack before it happens, I don't think the stink/stigma argument really holds up. So a +1 from me, especially for the tracker dog idea.
Is butyrene the stuff that's supposed to smell like human corpses? (I suppose in some cases that might have the wrong effect)
Add marjoram oil, a known anaphrodisiac.-- BunsenHoneydew, May 17 2004 Baked, I'm afraid. See link. It's a good idea though, and the device in the link is just a spray, while yours is intended to drench indiscriminately, yes? If you use the stuff that skunks produce, which is practically impossible to wash off, an added advantage is that it greatly increases the chances of witnesses, since everyone the would-be rapist passes on the way home would remember the stinky guy.-- spacemoggy, May 17 2004 Re: the rape stigma, I think this product would work for any violent attack. Also I don't think there is any stigma attached to attemped rape which is all that would happen with a smell that makes you want to throw up repeatedly.
Re: the baked spray vs drenching yourself. Drenching insures your safety from multiple attackers and does not depend on you tagging the attacker.-- macrumpton, May 17 2004 [+] for thinking outside the box and trying to defend against a crime of violence.
[-] for baked-ness.
Knew a girl in high school who tried to defend off an attacker. She didn't fight as though her life depended on it and she got whacked in the head with a ball peen hammer numerous times. She was in a chronic vegetative state for many years until she died. I has always questioned less-than-lethal means of countering rape. [neutral overall]-- Klaatu, May 17 2004 1) Wouldn't it be better to spray the stuff on the attacker?
2) Wouldn't pranking kids love this stuff?-- iivix, May 18 2004 In terms of the stigma aspect which some annotators have dismissed, consider why it is that so many rapes apparently go unreported? Among the reasons is the fact that the victim may not want everybody to know that they have been raped. You can debate the rights and wrongs of this attitude but you can't deny that it exists. Hence for somebody who feels this, to find that everybody can tell by smelling them that they have been a victim, the smelly label might prove very unhelpful in their recovery.
Of course they would try to aim at the attacker not themselves ideally but the idea specifically mentions using it on yourself to deter your attacker. Of course people who know in advance that they would want to keep something like this secret would not choose this type of deterrent, but how many people is that? Even a victim who was open about their attack might not want EVERYBODY to know. When you ride the tube to work the next morning would you want the whole carriage to know? And don't tell me it washes off easily as this negates the tracking/capture aspect.
What about misuse of the spray? I can imagine if it were sprayed on someone as a joke, they might well get the shit kicked out of them by a bunch of lads who imagine that they are only meeting out just deserts to an attacker.
Sorry, my objections still stand-- dobtabulous, May 18 2004 how about all men are required to have special electrocuters implanted under their skin. All women carry a device that causes all males within 20 feet to be paralyzed while the button is pushed. The button also summons police etc., so hopefully the button won't be abused. It will be known as "the button."-- SpocksEyebrow, May 08 2005 [dob] - meeting = meting.-- Detly, May 08 2005 //how about all men are required to have special electrocuters implanted under their skin. All women carry a device that causes all males within 20 feet to be paralyzed while the button is pushed. The button also summons police etc., so hopefully the button won't be abused. //
While it is rare, women may also be rapists. They tend to be particularly violent.
I do not recommend the skunk smell, as there are people who like that odor.
Regarding the use of any smell as a deterrent to sex crimes, there may be other concerns. Odors tend to become associated with acts. Rapists may, through repeated exposure, find themselves sexually aroused by the smell itself. Lesser types of pervs may find some attraction to rape victims, or find some sexual thrill from the idea of being raped. The end result might be a larger population of distrubed freaky folks hanging out in areas of many rape crimes.
Meanwhile, the people who have to live in these areas are either disgusted, and forced to move, or grow accustomed to the odor, and liken it to home, eventually finding a desire to live in similar settings if they ever do move.
I msut commend you on considering ways to reduce the chances of rape, but this idea sounds like it would be a real stinker.-- ye_river_xiv, Feb 08 2008 I think this is a great idea. I worked in a prison for 12 years and can tell you, this definately would have worked on a great many violent offenders...those guys are not as tough as you might think. They are almost universally piddling weaklings with absolutely no self confidence. They are often quite easily repulsed by the sightest discomfort. And, I was able to participate in some of the less than lethal demonstrations given by various LEA's...they have one pellet that is a vicious stink bomb...and I can quite honestly tell you it would gag a maggot....on just one sniff some people lost their lunches... I can't imagine being ten seconds in the same room with that stuff let loose....far, far worse than skunk, rotting carcass, feces, and stale urine combined.
Besides, certainly this will not work on every offender...but if it deterred just half, which I feel very confident it would and even more, then it would be worth it.-- Blisterbob, Feb 08 2008 random, halfbakery