5 household alternatives to Kellie Leitch's pepper spray plan

The Conservative MP has promised to make carrying mace legal so that women can protect themselves from violence. The idea is not entirely convincing.

By Sadiya Ansari

December 1, 2016

Rapunzel in Tangled. Kellie Leitch proposes women carry pepper spray to protect themselves from violence. May we suggest an old-fashioned skillet?

Conservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch has come up with a plan to end violence against women: Arm us all with pepper spray. Carrying mace is illegal at the moment, so, if elected, the Ontario MP has promised to ensure all women have the right to pack pepper.

"Women should not be forced by the law to be victims of violence when there exist non-lethal means by which they can protect themselves," reads a statement posted by Leitch Thursday morning.

While we absolutely believe that all women have a fundamental right to safety everywhere, we can't help but feel like Leitch's statement is an oversimplification of the issue, and perhaps doesn't take into consideration other possible effects of encouraging wide-spread pepper spray use — like who it might be used against, by whom and when. At Chatelaine, we have spent much time and effort examining the cultural forces that sanction sexual assault, how to support women who have experienced it, and how to improve the justice system for survivors. Statistics also tell us that in 80 percent of sexual assault cases, the attacker is a family member, friend or acquaintance — not a scary man hiding in the bushes. But today, we’ve decided to follow Leitch’s logic, just in case. So instead of droning on about how teaching consent is critical to stopping sexual assault, or about how victims aren't to blame, we suggest five handy household items — all legal, mostly tote-sized — that should prove just as useful at solving the problem of sexual assault as passing out pepper spray.