Violence against women in Mexico
has reached worrying levels. This situation has led a female student to design shoes equipped with pepper spray on its heels as a self defense accessory for women.
The project is called Criminal Taste , and it was created by Ditza Arámburo Gutiérrez , graduate of the Textile Design degree at the Ibero-American University of Puebla .
Each shoe has a pepper spray can hidden inside their 5-inch heels which can be rapidly drawn by women when facing a dangerous situation.
“The pepper spray can has a small velcro attached to the heel,” stated the young woman in an interview.
During a four-month period, as part of her thesis project to obtain her bachelor’s degree, Arámburo designed 5 different models inspired by charro sombreros.
“They asked me for a design that would help solve a social issue,” she told.
In Puebla, violence against women has shown an increase. From January to September of the present year, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) has reported 83 femicides in the state.
Some of the most recent cases that have shaken society in Mexico is that of Mara Castilla , a young woman who was murdered after boarding a vehicle belonging to the transport-hailing company Cabify . The driver kidnapped her, sexually abused her in a hotel, and murdered her, according to the State Attorney’s Office .
Only a week later, the student Mariana Fuentes was murdered after resisting an assault by men driving a car registered with the Uber platform.
The CNDH has requested the government to issue an alert for violence against women in the state, with a view to have local authorities respond to the problem and guarantee safety conditions for women.
In this context, Arámburo decided to focus her project on an accessory that could help women defend themselves quickly in case of violence or harassment.
In an interview with De Última , the Mexican designer clarified that the pepper spray she used was legal. “Unlike tear gas, which can only be used by police forces, it is perfectly legal to use pepper spray.”
The designs will go on sale later this year.
dm