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from the can-I-live-in-a-different-world-please? dept.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that a new nail polish called Undercover Colors changes color when it comes in contact with any date rape drug so, a woman just has to discretely dip her finger in her drink to test it for safety. "Our goal is to invent technologies that empower women to protect themselves from this heinous and quietly pervasive crime," say four male undergraduates at North Carolina State University who are developing the polish and currently asking for donations to complete their work. "Through this nail polish and similar technologies, we hope to make potential perpetrators afraid to spike a woman’s drink because there’s now a risk that they can get caught."
However some sexual assault prevention advocates warn that the nail polish is not necessarily the best way to approach the sexual assault epidemic on college campuses. “One of the ways that rape is used as a tool to control people is by limiting their behavior,” says Rebecca Nagle. “As a woman, I’m told not to go out alone at night, to watch my drink, to do all of these things. That way, rape isn’t just controlling me while I’m actually being assaulted — it controls me 24/7 because it limits my behavior. Solutions like these actually just recreate that. I don’t want to fucking test my drink when I’m at the bar. That’s not the world I want to live in.” According to Alexandra Brodsky the argument that women simply need to be more responsible is a common response to the current conversation about sexual assault on college campuses — and one that activists say doesn’t get to the heart of the issue. "The problem isn’t that women don’t know when there are roofies in their drink; the problem is people putting roofies in their drink in the first place."
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Wednesday August 27 2014, @06:32PM
There's a lot of things you can do to keep women around you safe from rapists (other than not raping them, obviously). Some of the things that women mentioned on these [thestranger.com] threads [wordpress.com] on the subject:
- Interrupting interactions between a woman and somebody who is acting creepy or abusive, just by saying something.
- If you are in a position of power, make sure inappropriate behavior has consequences e.g. kicking someone out of a group for harassing women. If you aren't in a position of power, report this kind of thing to the people who do have power, and ensure they follow through.
- Comfort and support women who have been raped. /sexually assaulted.
- Make sure female friends who've had too much to drink get home safely, and ideally in the company of at least one female friend of hers.
- Dropping any friends of yours who rape somebody, purely for that.
- If one of your guy friends says or does something out of line in front of you, say that it's wrong, right there, right in front of him and anyone else who's around.
- If you think one of your friends is going to rape somebody, don't leave them out of earshot/eyesight with their target.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by velex on Sunday September 28 2014, @02:18AM
I've thought about this for a long time.
Let's start from a non-cissexist position.
I think you're essentially right. It's about compassion. I know about date rape. You know about date rape. No matter what my gender is, why would I want to fail to protect a friend who has become targeted?
If you aren't in a position of power, report this kind of thing to the people who do have power, and ensure they follow through.
I've actually done this before. It was funny, though, because I later found out that my motion was meaningless. The womyn-born-womyn who I was concerned were being subjected to sexual harassment by a client actually ran with it and enjoyed it. I guess it just shows how out of touch I am. I'm still glad that sleazy client left. Maybe it was just me who was uncomfortable about the situation.
Thanks for the response.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Sunday September 28 2014, @03:54PM
I used cis-gendered terminology for a very specific reason: The vast majority of rapes are cis-gendered straight men raping cis-gendered women. I'm well aware that there is no shortage of other cases, and have numerous trans friends, but in this case I'm targeting the biggest source of the problem.
As far as reporting goes, I'm quite certain you did the right thing, even if the womyn involved enjoyed what this client was doing - the sleazy behavior of that client has no place in business. It also wasn't a meaningless act: Your womyn-born-womyn coworkers learned that their coworkers and employer will support them if they ever decide that they *don't* enjoy it.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.