South African doctor invents female condoms with 'teeth' to fight rape

Dr. Sonnet Ehlers shows a spiked female condom, whose hooks she says stick on a man during rape.

(CNN) -- South African Dr. Sonnet Ehlers was on call one night four decades ago when a devastated rape victim walked in. Her eyes were lifeless; she was like a breathing corpse.
"She looked at me and said, 'If only had teeth down there,'" recalled Ehlers, who was a 20-year-old medical researcher at the time. "I promised her I'd do something to help people like her one day."
Forty years later, Rape-aXe was born.
Ehlers is distributing the female condoms in the various South African cities where the World Cup soccer games are taking place.
The woman inserts the latex condom like a tampon. Jagged rows of teeth-like hooks line its inside and attach on a man's penis during penetration, Ehlers said.
Once it lodges, only a doctor can remove it -- a procedure Ehlers hopes will be done with authorities on standby to make an arrest.
"It hurts, he cannot pee and walk when it's on," she said. "If he tries to remove it, it will clasp even tighter... however, it doesn't break the skin, and there's no danger of fluid exposure."
Ehlers said she sold her house and car to launch the project, and she planned to distribute 30,000 free devices under supervision during the World Cup period.
"I consulted engineers, gynecologists and psychologists to help in the design and make sure it was safe," she said.
After the trial period, they'll be available for about $2 a piece. She hopes the women will report back to her.

It hurts, he cannot pee and walk when it's on. If he tries to remove it, it will clasp even tighter
--Dr Sonnet Ehlers

"The ideal situation would be for a woman to wear this when she's going out on some kind of blind date ... or to an area she's not comfortable with," she said.
The mother of two daughters said she visited prisons and talked to convicted rapists to find out whether such a device would have made them rethink their actions.
Some said it would have, Ehlers said.
Critics say the female condom is not a long-term solution and makes women vulnerable to more violence from men trapped by the device.
It's also a form of "enslavement," said Victoria Kajja, a fellow for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the east African country of Uganda. "The fears surrounding the victim, the act of wearing the condom in anticipation of being assaulted all represent enslavement that no woman should be subjected to."
Kajja said the device constantly reminds women of their vulnerability.
"It not only presents the victim with a false sense of security, but psychological trauma," she added. "It also does not help with the psychological problems that manifest after assaults."
However, its one advantage is it allows justice to be served, she said.
Various rights organizations that work in South Africa declined to comment, including Human Rights Watch and Care International.
South Africa has one of the highest rape rates in the world, Human Rights Watch says on its website. A 2009 report by the nation's Medical Research Council found that 28 percent of men surveyed had raped a woman or girl, with one in 20 saying they had raped in the past year, according to Human Rights Watch.
In most African countries, rape convictions are not common. Affected women don't get immediate access to medical care, and DNA tests to provide evidence are unaffordable.
"Women and girls who experience these violations are denied justice, factors that contribute to the normalization of rape and violence in South African society," Human Rights Watch says.
Women take drastic measures to prevent rape in South Africa, Ehlers said, with some wearing extra tight biker shorts and others inserting razor blades in their private parts.
Critics have accused her of developing a medieval device to fight rape.

"Yes, my device may be a medieval, but it's for a medieval deed that has been around for decades," she said. "I believe something's got to be done ... and this will make some men rethink before they assault a woman."

Tupac & Biggie Wax Statues Unveiled

In honor of Tupac's birthday, Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G.'s wax figures were unveiled at Madame Tussauds in Washington D.C. yesterday.  Crazy how life-like Pac's statue is is.

More pics when you read on...


And Biggie's statue:


Tupac would have been 39 yesterday and Biggie would be 38 years old.  R.I.P.

More Black Men Mag Scans Of Nicki Minaj

Looks like Nicki Minaj may be doing a double cover for the upcoming issue of Black Men's magazine.  This other cover picleaked earlier this week.  Now, here's another shot released.  And a couple more when you read on...

Cool.

TWITPIC ROUND-UP: Christina Milian & Baby Violet+Others

Uncle Rush (Russell Simmons) hosted a NoH8 Campaign shoot this weekend for him, his fam, and friends.  Christina Milian was in the shoot and she decided to Twitpic her and baby Violet.  "Top Model" Jaslene participated as well.  Look at the cute baby!

More Twitpics from this shoot and other ish when you read on...


Can you guess who's who?

Jaslene, Chris, Vivica Fox, and Angela Simmons all got fab for the shoot.

Vanessa was there too of course.

Pretty ladies!


Toya Carter was Twitpic'd getting her hair "mohawk'd" for one of her calender shoot pics with Rob Ector.

Drizzy Drama+T.I. Does XXL

In the hip-hop news of the day, folks were wilin' out at Drake's free NYC show to celebrate his album release yesterday.  There was so much ruckus and rioting and so man people that the cops shut down the concert before it began.

Drake issues a statement to his fans, and we've got that and video of the foolery when you read on...

No home training.  Folks were repotedly throwing chairs, tables, fighting, and the usual shenanigans that would go down at some free over populated ish like this.  I did hear folks were out there for about an hour and a half waiting for the concert to start.
Drizzy's statement:

As you know, Drake was set to perform at Paper Magazine's Sounds Like Paper concert series at the South Street Seaport tonight but the NYPD canceled the show - which also featured Ninkasonik and Hanson. This is the statement from Drake: "I am humbled by the crowd that showed up in support of my performance and the release of Thank Me Later. I love performing for my fans but unfortunately the show was canceled by the NYPD due to over crowding, leaving me without the chance to give my fans a real show. I'm thankful for the support that the fans have been giving me....I thank you now."

And T.I. is covering the July issue of XXL magazine. The King Uncaged is talking about those snitching allegations in his cover story:

“What people don’t take into consideration is the reason that I was eligible for certain agreements that they weren’t eligible for was because I made myself a useful member of society. Most muthafuckas catch cases and get time. My nigga, you wasn’t doing shit when you was out here, so wasn’t no reason for them to keep you out here. Please understand the G code that I learned from, if you speak out your mouth that a muthafucka is telling on somebody and you can’t come with indisputable, irrefutable facts to support that statement, that makes you the sucker,” T.I. said. “You are now in violation of the G code. And there ain’t nobody, nowhere in naan jail sayin’ I was on they paperwork.”

Source: MTV

Glad he's back regardless.

Drake "Doesn't Care" About Lil Kim, Parties It Up In NYC

Drake spent his album drop dayavoiding riots, partying in NYC, and letting folks know he "doesn't care" what Lil Kim has to say about him.  He called in to Houston's 97.9 The Box this morning to give the low down on the Barbie Beef, missing Lil Wayne, and his relationship with Maliah Michele.

The highlights:

On Lil Kim calling him a Punk P:
I really don’t care… sometimes I get a lil impulsive when you start talking about the people I love. You can say whatever about me, I’ll never respond to it, like I’ll never react to it, but if you start talking about the people I love then I do get a little bit more reactive and that’s all that happened there, Nicki’s got records climbing the charts and today Thank Me Later is in stores, so it’s just about relevant people today…
On his relationship with Maliah Michele:
Maliah’s great. She’s a wonderful person who I was blessed to work and have part of the greatest video of my career to date and huh just an amazing person that I’m honored to know. I love her a lot. She’s dope.
On first week predictions:
It’s not about the specific number, You can’t tell me these young people don’t matter… Music is not dead…. You gotta connect with people… Give them a reason to wake up and wanna spend $10 on hearing your story… as far as the numbers, it’s whatever.
On visiting Lil Wayne in Rikers:
It was sad, because today was a day I wanted Wayne with me bad. He believed in me before anybody… I miss him.. It’s sad to see him in that situation… And him not being able to record music… I can see it in his eyes, it’s a painful thing.

And here's the pics from Drake's party at 5Ninth:

He kicked it with Jadakiss.

And his whole Young Money fam.

Lil Twist and Jae Millz.

Idris Elba hit the turntables.


Fab was spotted leaving out.

And actor Tristan Wilds was there.  Fun times I'm sure.

Tameka Raymond Still Talking About Her Divorce, Says She Still Loves Usher

For the Vibe.com (online version) mag, Tameka Raymond is their next cover subject.

And she's saying some things about her and Usher's divorce that make you go Hmmm.  Or, maybe it was just me.  Read on for that....
Here's a few of the snippets:

Another thing most question is your last name. Any special reason for keeping it Raymond?
(Laughs) I don’t think because a relationship doesn’t work, you have to change your name back. It’s an asinine question. Why not? Prior to getting married I kept my ex-husband’s last name. People have such a short expectancy for marriage that when they divorce it’s ‘Why does she still have his name?’ Dude, I was supposed to keep his name until I die. I wasn’t supposed to get a divorce (laughs).
If Usher got his shit together, do you think the love could be easily rekindled?
No, I don’t know. I’m not anticipating it. I’m not working toward it. But it’s [also] not a closed chapter. I’m not saying that I’m not open for discussion on it, but it’s not something I’m working on.
If he came back tomorrow, would you take him back?
I don’t know. I’ve closed the chapter of having Usher as my mate. Now am I willing to reopen it? I can’t say. Do I still love him? I love him very much and you marry someone with the intent of sitting in a rocker with the person. I have sons that look just like him, so I have to deal with him pretty much every day.
Source

As for the first answer...um, what?

Jasmine Sanders Isn't The Only Chick Chris Brown Is Boo'd Up With These Days?

Chris Brown may have a new girl named Jasmine Sanders he likes to be pictured with, but he has another model chick he gets boo'd up whenever he's in New York.

Sources from Chris Brown's camp say he and urban Puerto Rican model Sophia Marie started dating after Chris and Rihanna split, and the two still see each other to this day.  They even hit Club Amnesia in NYC together a week and a half ago.  And no, she's not Trey Songz's girl.  More deets when you read on....
 
Sophia is Medical (Pharmacy) School graduate/video model (Drake's "Best I Ever Had", Lloyd Banks' "Beamer, Benz, or Bentley" videos). And folks say she and Chris act like a couple every time he goes to NYC.  He makes it his mission to see Sophia and tell his friends how much love he has for her.
While pics hit the net last week of Sophia supposedly on a date with Trey Songz, the pics were actually from an upcoming music video Trey has coming out with rapper Fat Joe, and she's the lead girl.
Apparently Sophia wanted to keep her and Chris' relationship low profile because she was in med school and didn't want to be in the media linked to him and compared to Rihanna.  I guess modeling in G-strings and such was acceptable though.
The source says:
Chris and Sophia have been together ever since he and Rihanna broke up, but Jasmine is much more comfortable being in the media because she knows being seen with Chris will help flourish her modeling career. But while Chris was out hanging with Jasmine just days before, Chris made sure to find time to spend with Sophia and her friends at NYC's club Amnesia.
Since Chris never claimed to be in an exclusive relationship with Jasmine,  seeing other ladies may not actually constitute as "cheating".  Guess he's just sowing his model oats these days.  More pics of Sophia:





Chris clearly has a type...

MAGAZINE FLICKS: Nicki Minaj Does Black Men+The Carters Get Cutesy

Nicki Minaj is covering the July issue of Black Men's magazine.  And she's dishing abut her upcoming debut studio album named Catch Me.

We've got more info on Nicki's upcoming album, Tasha's magazine cover and quote from her BFF Tisha Campbell-Martin, and Beyonce & Jay-Z talking babies in Us Weekly.

Nicki told her Barbz over at her fan site that she's working with Swizz Beatz on the upcoming album and that she never gets high:
He definitely expressed interest in an interview one time. I was excited because I was like, ‘Swizz Beatz, I love his style.’ And as a matter of fact, we got some sh*t. It's one called Catch Me that will definitely make the album and it’s a masterpiece from me and Swizz."
“It’s a little singing, a little rapping, but it’s like a different vibe. It’s a moody vibe. It’s just dope. And the beat sounds really futuristic, but it’s mellow futuristic. It gets you in this weird, like you’re high type sh*t, even though I don’t get high and I never have.”
Alrighty then.

 
And your favorite power couple is featured in this week's Us Weekly.  It's a pic from the French Open where they're getting cutesy in the stands.  And a quote from Jay's Rolling Stone article about he and the Mrs. welcoming some Baby Hov's into the world in 2 or 3 years.  Interesting...


Source: Nicki-Minaj.net/Us Weekly/Heart & Soul

Kelly Rowland Graces The July Cover Of Cosmopolitan South Africa

Fab chick Kelly Rowland is rocking the July 2010 cover of Cosmopolitan South Africa magazine.  She's donning a metallic and flirty bustier for a sexy chic look.  And she looks fab while doing so.

Her pics from the shoot when you read on...




Hot looks for Kel.