Undercover Colors is the first fashion company to empower women against multiple date rape drugs.
Undercover Colors is the first fashion company to empower women against multiple date rape drugs.
The company is working on releasing a nail polish which detects date rape drugs.
Four students at North Carolina State University are designing the technology with the hope to, according to thinkprogress.com, “invent technologies that empower women to protect themselves from this heinous and quietly pervasive crime.”
Undercover Colors will take control away from the predator and place it, quite literally, in a woman’s hand, by giving them the opportunity to test for these drugs before they are ingested.
The nail polish packages chemicals which react to common date rape drugs such as Rohypnol and GHB.
These drugs are typically odorless, tasteless and colorless. Unlike other products such as date rape coasters, testing strips, or the Pd.id, this nail polish is discreet and does not run the risk of running out of power.
After applying the polish one has ten testers to use throughout the night.
To test beverages just dip a fingertip into the beverage. If date rape drugs are detected, the nail polish will change colors.
Many critics believe the problem is simply the predators that use these drugs; however, if we cannot stop the predators why not take an extra step to prevent ourselves from being victims?
There is no estimate of the number of drug-facilitated rapes involving GHB, because according to Kansas State University, “GHB is only detectable in a person’s system for a limited amount of time and, if the victim does not seek immediate help, the opportunity to detect the drug can quickly pass.”
However, in a release from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 1 in 5 women experiences rape at some point and more than one-third of those rapes happen to women who are college aged.
Here in Richmond, about 38 per 100,000 people were a victim of rape in 2012, and these numbers have dropped dramatically since 2000. But it’s still an issue to be weary of.
I believe it is time we begin to empower women so they do not fall victim to these statistics, and maybe this invention could be a great first step.
