Terrible torture museum.

 Terrible  torture museum.

I had the pleasure of visiting Prague this weekend, and walking past the "Torture Museum" instantly grabbed my attention. 

For all my adult life I've had a huge interest in history, but the macabre side of history has always fascinated me. Which I guess bleeds over into the psychology of how and why people can do what they do to each other.

Prague torture museum (although pretty small) is certainly fascinating, filled with information and examples of the ways people have inflicted pain on one another.

Sometimes the pain is self inflicted in order to prevent greater harm from others. 

The chastity belt is a prime example of this. Most people, including myself, think the chastity belt was forced upon women by their husbands to ensure they were faithful whilst the husband was away crusading. Whilst this is possible, wearing one for more than a couple of days would cause severe infections from the metal abrasions, along with the inability to wash.

Instead, it's believed that the main use of this device was actually to protect against r@pe, especially when troops were stationed in the area. Or when travelling and having to stay a night in an inn. 

It's likely a woman, unfortunately, would have to ASK for the belt. But don't be mistaken, this DOESN'T make this any less of a torture device. 

Women subjected themselves purposefully to incredible pain and discomfort, to avoid the greater threat of overpowering males.