Chastity belt

[7][8] Gregory the Great, Alcuin of York, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Nicholas Gorranus all made passing references to "chastity belts" within their exhortatory and public discourses, but meant this in a figurative or metaphorical sense within their historical context.

[9] The first detailed actual mention of what could be interpreted as "chastity belts" in the West is in Konrad Kyeser von Eichstätt's Bellifortis (1405), which describes the military technology of the era.

The book includes a drawing that is accompanied by the Latin text: "Est florentinarum hoc bracile dominarum ferreum et durum ab antea sic reseratum."

The other—said to have been worn by Anne of Austria—is a hinged pair of plates held about the waist by metal straps, featuring intricately etched figures of Adam and Eve.

Numerous mentions can be found in medical journals of the time of the use of chastity belt-like devices to prevent masturbation in female children and adolescents, as well as women.

[12] Many designs for anti-masturbation devices were filed in the US Patent Office until the early 1930s, when masturbation was no longer deemed to be the cause of mental health problems.

They range from simple leather or plastic toys commonly sold by adult stores to expensive high-security stainless steel devices made by a handful of specialist firms.

In 1981, while California State Senator John G. Schmitz was leading hearings on outlawing abortion, Gloria Allred presented him with a chastity belt.

[16] In April 2002, the Uwe Koetter Jewellers company of Cape Town, South Africa, completed and delivered a diamond and pearl-encrusted chastity belt made of gold to a British customer.

[17] On February 6, 2004, USA Today reported that at Athens airport in Greece, a woman's steel chastity belt had triggered a security alarm at the metal detector.

[18] In November 2006, photographs of Lucio Valentini's hand-wrought iron chastity belts were published in newspapers including the Seoul Times,[19] and CRI Online.

[23] While this may be true for dogs being helped by rescues and humane societies, the American Kennel Club subsequently changed its policy regarding pediatric spaying or neutering.