The Mosquito
Nicknamed "Mosquito" for the buzzing sound it plays, the device is marketed as a safety and security tool for preventing youths from congregating in specific areas.
[3] The Mosquito machine was invented and patented by Howard Stapleton in 2005,[4] and was originally tested in Barry, South Wales, where it was successful in reducing teenagers loitering near a grocery store.
[16] The German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health stated in a report on The Mosquito, entitled Use of ultrasonic noise channels not entirely safe: The results of the examination are now available.
On the other hand small children and infants are especially at risk, due to lengthy exposure to the sound, because the adults themselves do not perceive the noise.
In March 2009, a child who had recently undergone ear surgery reported that the device set off her tinnitus, causing significant pain.
[21] The Mosquito has received support and endorsements from municipalities, school districts, property management companies, convenience stores and other organisations.
[citation needed] Opposition categorises it as an indiscriminate[25][26] sonic weapon which succeeds only in demonising children and young people and may breach their human rights.
[25] Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, has claimed that the sound is "untested [and] unregulated" and that it can be a "sonic weapon directed against children and young people."
[30] A report for the Council of Europe called for a ban in 2010, suggesting use of the Mosquito may breach human rights law.
Although mentioned in the document, a national ban of the mosquito device was not in the Coalition Agreement, and is not part of current Government policy.
In July 2014, a new campaign was started in order to get a mosquito device removed from the public library in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire,[33][34][35] and is ongoing.
[needs update] In 2016, a shopping centre in Queensland, Australia removed the device after two years of campaigning by a local lawyer, due to it discriminating against young people.
[39] The Committee on Culture, Science and Education of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe prepared a report stating that this device violates many articles of both the European Convention on Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and should be banned in Europe, because it is often "painful" and causes "degrading and discriminatory consequences for young people".
[40] In September 2008, Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP moved a motion to the European Parliament to ban the use of the Mosquito.
[41] In Belgium, a resolution was passed by the House in June 2008 asking the government to take all necessary measures to prohibit the use of devices like the Mosquito on Belgian territory.
