Staff Writer
Four
North Carolina State University students, in an attempt to prevent sexual
assault, have created nail polish that changes color when it comes in contact
with date-rape drugs. According to a recently conducted poll, nine out of ten students
at Apex High know what the nail polish does, and out of those nine only one
student knows what it is named. The nail polish is called Undercover Colors and
the slogan for it is, “The first company empowering women to prevent sexual assault.”
Freshman Manny Broadway says, “Women of the world can be safe.” Undercover
Colors will be able to detect drugs such as Rohypnol, Xanax, and GHB.
Undercover Colors co-creator Ankesh Madan, one of the creators, says, “Undercover Colors started out as an idea born in my
co-founders’ active imaginations. As we were thinking about big problems in our
society, the topic of drug-facilitated sexual assault came up. All of us have
been close to someone who has been through the terrible experience, and we
began to focus on finding a way to help prevent the crime.”
Some
feel this product is promising, N.C. State University researchers said it’s to,
“empower women to protect themselves
from this heinous and quietly pervasive crime.” However, some think that
its development will not be a good idea. The concept of “victim blaming” has
been mentioned as an aftershock for women who are sexually attacked and assume
it must be their fault, for not taking all of the available precautions to protect
themselves. Katie Russell of the Rape Crisis of England and Wales Charity says
that her charity will not be endorsing this product. “It implies that it’s the
woman’s fault and assumes responsibility on her behalf, and detracts from the
real issues that arise from sexual violence,” Russell says. Most against this
innovation will point out that the blame should be placed on the perpetrators,
saying that women should not be expected or responsible to prevent themselves
from being sexually assaulted.
Sophomore
Saianna Henry says, “I don’t really think it’s a good idea, until it’s actually
proven to prevent a sexual assault.” Instead of taking precautions, some feel
that the correct angle would be to educate and stop rapists before any assaults
actually take place. Hannah Brancato, co-director of FORCE: Upsetting Rape
Culture, a sexual assault prevention group, says, “For consent to be part of
college campuses, it needs to be incorporated in the sexual culture of college
campuses.” FORCE has designed a guide on the topic of consent that is specified
for college campuses.
No
matter what side is taken, those reviewing Undercover Colors are discussing ending
the rape culture so that interactions between people are consensual and there
are no sexual assaults. Holley Mullen, executive director of the Rape Recovery
Center in Salt Lake City, says, “You don’t come at these solutions with one
solution or one answer. You work on this one, and let’s continue to focus on
who causes rapes – rapists – and we talk about respecting boundaries and consent.
But you don’t approach this from five, six, seven or 10 ways, you look at all
angles.”
