Dave Rubin’s latest roundtable resurfaced a stark question that too many on the left would rather ignore: when women are being targeted on the streets, is the solution to design clothing that locks them up or to secure our borders and communities? Rubin shared a DM clip of his conversation with Emily Wilson and Link Lauren about anti-rape underwear, and the clip is sparking the honest debate elites choke on.
The idea of “anti-rape” garments is not theoretical — entrepreneurs have already brought products to market that promise cut- and tear-resistant fabrics, coded locks and ear-piercing alarms so a woman can at least try to protect herself from an attacker. Inventors like the creator of Safe Shorts point to real incidents and say these items give a layer of practical protection for women who feel vulnerable.
No one should mock a survivor who wants to make others safer, but the predictable chorus of moralizing critics is right to warn that turning prevention into a fashion accessory risks blaming victims and offering a false comfort. Commentators from across the spectrum say these products can misdirect attention from the real problem: criminals who should be behind bars, not roaming our streets.
Let us also be honest about why demand for these gimmicks spikes: Europe has seen episodes where migrant criminals committed mass sexual attacks, most famously the New Year’s Eve assaults in Cologne that shocked the continent and exposed failures in integration and policing. Those episodes are part of the public record and they are the reason sensible citizens start asking uncomfortable questions about immigration policy and public safety.
Here’s the conservative truth nobody in the metropolitan echo chamber wants to hear: handing women a high-tech chastity belt is not a substitute for law and order. While some products might help in individual cases, they are a Band-Aid on a wound caused by porous borders, weak enforcement, and political elites who prefer virtue signaling to protecting women and communities.
If we really care about preventing assault we should focus on practical, systemic solutions — secure borders, faster deportations for criminal aliens, stiff sentences for violent offenders, and investments in policing and community safety. We should also teach and support self-defense and expand technologies that assist victims without normalizing a culture that treats women as permanently at risk in their own country.
Patriotic Americans shouldn’t be forced to choose between dignity and safety. We can respect survivors and innovators while insisting our leaders stop offering fashionable gadgets as policy and instead restore the basic duty of government: keep citizens safe. That starts with telling the hard truth about who is committing these crimes and pushing for the border security and law enforcement that actually prevents them.
