Anti-Pervert Flamethrowers a Hit in China

A new self-defense device is being marketed in China to help women defend themselves against perverts.

It is a flamethrower that can launch a lightsaber-like, half a meter long stream of fire so that women can fend off unwanted sexual advances. The device is being promoted as a necessary “anti-pervert weapon” that is small enough to fit inside any size purse or handbag and can be carried around inconspicuously.

Some of these flamethrowers come in the shape of a cigarette lighter and can produce smaller flames, while others launch a 50cm flame with temperatures of up to 1,800 degrees Celsius (3,300 Fahrenheit). The price at online shopping sites can range from about 90 yuan to around 300 yuan, and one seller even bragged on local media how they can “scald or even disfigure an attacker.”

Another seller told The Beijing Youth Daily they “can leave a permanent scar, but are a legal, non-lethal tool. Not a weapon.”

However, Chinese police have warned that the flamethrowers are illegal, but they were still being sold on the Chinese Internet on Tuesday.

“Flames and the super high temperatures are enough to scare the bad guys away,” said one website, which also said that the flames can last for 30 minutes. “At that crucial moment, you could also become an anti-terror SWAT,” said another.

It is unknown when the sale of these devices began in China, although The Beijing Youth Daily said they had become “very popular” at the beginning of summer, when concern over sexual harassment is at its highest, with some stores selling up to 300 of these items per month.

Police told Chinese media that it is “technically illegal” to send the devices to customers through the postal service. There are some concerns that the device can hurt the person carrying it because it can be accidentally switched on while inside the bag.