Aflame-thrower that can hurl a stream of fire half a metre long is being marketed in China to help women fend off unwanted advances. The device is being billed on shopping websites as a must-have “anti-pervert weapon” that can be discreetly carried in a l
Aflame-thrower that can hurl a stream of fire half a metre long is being marketed in China to help women fend off unwanted advances. The device is being billed on shopping websites as a must-have “anti-pervert weapon” that can be discreetly carried in a ladies’ handbag.
The handheld devices, which are capable of hurling a stream of fire half a metre long, sell between 90 to 300 yuan on e-commerce site Taobao Image:Telegraph
The devices, which look like large cigarette lighters, are on sale for between $10 and $30 from several online shops.
Makers boast they can produce a flame from several inches to one and a half feet long at temperatures up to 1,800C – enough to ‘disfigure’ an attacker.
Makers say they are capable of producing a flame up to a foot and a half long at temperatures of 1,800C – which is enough to ‘disfigure’ an attacker Image:Taobao
Adverts claim the devices are perfectly legal, though Chinese police say otherwise, according to The Telegraph.
They are explicitly marketed as a self-defense tool for women to use against predatory men, with one advert showing a woman being pushed up against a bathroom door.
Another advert on Chinese marketplace Taobao shows a woman chasing a man away while brandishing one of the devices.
Mini flame throwers designed to protect women against sex attackers have gone up for sale for between $10 and $30 in China Image:Taobao
One vendor boasted to local media how they can “scald or even disfigure an attacker.”
Another vendor told The Beijing Youth Daily they “can leave a permanent scar, but are a legal, non-lethal tool. Not a weapon.”
“Flames and the super high temperatures are enough to scare the bad guys away,” said one website, which added that the flames can last for 30 minutes. “At that crucial moment, you could also become an anti-terror SWAT,” said another.
Chinese police have warned that the devices are against the law, but they were still being sold on the Chinese Internet on Tuesday.
Pocket-sized flamethrowers are being marketed to women as an “anti-pervert weapon” online Image:Taobao
It is unclear when the devices were first being sold in China, although The Beijing Youth Daily said they had become “very popular” when concern over sexual harassment peaks at the start of summer, with some stores selling up to 300 a month.
Police told Chinese media that it is “technically illegal” to send the devices to customers through the postal service.
Concerns have also been raised that the devices can cause injury to the person carrying them, as the switch can be accidentally turned on while it is in a handbag.
