Legcuffs, shackles, footcuffs, fetters or leg irons are a kind of physical restraint

Physical restraint

Physical restraint refers to the practice of rendering people harmless, helpless or keeping them in captivity by means such as handcuffs, fetters, straitjackets, ropes, straps, or other forms of physical restraint...

 used on the feet

Foot

The foot is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made up of one or more segments or bones, generally including claws...

 or ankle

Ankle

The ankle joint is formed where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle, or talocrural joint, is a synovial hinge joint that connects the distal ends of the tibia and fibula in the lower limb with the proximal end of the talus bone in the foot...

s to allow walking but prevent running and kicking. The term "fetter" shares a root with the word "foot".

With respect to humans, typically only prisoner

Prisoner

A prisoner is someone incarcerated in a prison, jail or similar facility.Prisoner or The Prisoner may also refer to:* Prisoner of war, a soldier in wartime, held as by an enemy* Political prisoner, someone held in prison for their ideology...

s or bondage fetishists will wear shackles. A shackled animal

Animal

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...

 is typically either a dangerous animal or one prone to escape.

Metaphor

Metaphor

A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...

ically, a fetter may be anything that restricts or restrains in any way, hence the word "unfettered".

History

The earliest fetters found in archaeological excavations date from the prehistoric age and are mostly of the puzzle lock type. Roman times already see a variety of restraint types. Some early versions of cup lock shackles can already be found. These were widely used in medieval times but their use declined when mass production made the manufacture of locks built into restraints affordable.

Simple fetter types continue to be used like puzzle lock shackles as the typical slave iron or irons riveted shut for prisoners being transported to overseas prison camps.
The First built-in locks often were of a simple screw-type but soon developed into the "Darby" type. In Europe these continued to be used into the middle of the 20th century, whereas in the US from the late 19th century onwards many new designs were invented and produced before handcuffs and leg irons of the Peerless type became the standard several decades ago.

A recent development of the last few decades are high security restraints that incorporate a cylinder lock that is more difficult to pick than the lock on standard type cuffs.

Controversial use

In comparison to handcuffs the wearing of leg irons may be found less restrictive. Thus the prison authorities in several countries deem their long term use acceptable. In order to avoid condoning this disputed practice the countries of the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 have banned exporting leg irons into non-EU countries.Civilising the torture trade, by Steve Wright, The Guardian, Thursday March 13 2003COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1236/2005 of 27 June 2005, concerning trade in certain goods which could be used for capital punishment, torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment The countries that continue to make prisoners wear fetters long term now tend to resort to manufacturing their own restraints.

BDSM Activities

These are widely used in BDSM

BDSM

BDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...

 activities on the submissive by the dominant. This can be used as a restrain to the movement of the submissive in tease and denial

Tease and denial

Tease and denial is a general term used to describe any technique that involves the sexual stimulation of a person to cause intense arousal without climax...

 and also in tie and tease

Tie and tease

Tie and tease refers to the BDSM sexual activity that involves tying up a partner and bringing him or her to a heightened state of sexual arousal but controlling whether and when to allow them to orgasm, which might or might not be decided in advance...

. This is widely used as a part of the scene in various BDSM activities such as human furniture

Human furniture

Human furniture is a form of bondage and sexual objectification in which a person's body is incorporated into a chair, table, cabinet or other piece of furniture. The term was originally coined by Jeff Gord....

, bondage

Bondage (sexual)

Bondage is the use of restraints for the sexual pleasure of the parties involved. It may be used in its own right, as in the case of rope bondage and breast bondage, or as part of sexual activity or BDSM activity.- Private bondage :...

, public humiliation

Public humiliation

Public humiliation was often used by local communities to punish minor and petty criminals before the age of large, modern prisons .- Shameful exposure :...

, and animal roleplay.

See also

• Handcuffs
  Handcuffs
  Handcuffs are restraint devices designed to secure an individual's wrists close together. They comprise two parts, linked together by a chain, a hinge, or rigid bar. Each half has a rotating arm which engages with a ratchet that prevents it from being opened once closed around a person's wrist...
  
  
• Thumbcuffs
  Thumbcuffs
  Thumbcuffs are a metal restraining device that lock thumbs in proximity to each other.Rarely used due to an increased possibility of injury, most commonly by tight cuffs blocking blood circulation, handcuffs are used instead....
  
  
• Leg
  Human leg
  The human leg is the entire lower extremity or limb of the human body, including the foot, thigh and even the hip or gluteal region; however, the precise definition in human anatomy refers only to the section of the lower limb extending from the knee to the ankle.Legs are used for standing,...
  
  
• Hobble (device)
• Bilboes