Chastity belt

The chastity belt is a locking appliance that prevents the wearer from engaging in sexual intercourse and masturbation. It may be applied on a male or female, voluntarily or forced by someone else.

Chastity belts are surrounded by myths and actual usage in the past is likely to have been quite limited. The first possible evidence of chastity belts can be found in medieval writings, but most evidence for practical designs dates to the 16th century and later. Chastity belts and similar antisexual devices were used to prevent premarital sex in girls and young women and extramarital sex in married women. The use of such devices against another's will would now be considered abusive in most western societies.

Chastity belts are, however, sometimes used as an element of consensual BDSM practices. A quality stainless steel chastity belt can be worn for some weeks.

In connection with the 1998 riots in Indonesia, there were stories about chastity belts. Allegedly, some businessmen cashed in on a rape scare among ethnic Chinese women by marketing a kind of chastity belt as abuse protection ([1] (http://www.tpe.com/~altarboy/nt000625.htm)).