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posted by janrinok on Tuesday August 26 2014, @09:31PM   Printer-friendly
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."

 
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  • (Score: 2) by mhajicek on Thursday August 28 2014, @02:53AM

    by mhajicek (51) on Thursday August 28 2014, @02:53AM (#86562)

    If the drug is in you then you've already lost. How do you defend against the drug? How about with the nail polish in TFA? The point was made elsewhere in this thread that a rapist may resort to force if attempts to drug fail. Then there are plenty who start with force. In either of these cases being armed is a significant advantage.

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  • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday August 28 2014, @10:21PM

    by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Thursday August 28 2014, @10:21PM (#86939) Homepage
    So you think the only sensible response to finding rohypnol in your drink is to shoot the person who you think did it?

    The mind boggles. Do you not live in a society with things like telephones, bar-staff, friends, or policemen?
    --
    Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
    • (Score: 2) by mhajicek on Friday August 29 2014, @02:16AM

      by mhajicek (51) on Friday August 29 2014, @02:16AM (#87015)

      You're not following any of this, are you? Ok, let lay this out as simply as I can. There are many situations which result in someone being raped. Being drugged by a rapist is only one of them, and as I said before if the drug is in you then you've already lost. If the rapists attempt to drug you fails, or if he's unable to obtain the drug, or if he's simply inclined more to force, said rapist may wait until you leave the bar and ambush you in the alley or parking lot. Some may even forgo the bar entirely, electing to ambush their victim wherever it's convenient. In all of these cases, lethal force is an appropriate defense.

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      The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
      • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Friday August 29 2014, @07:35AM

        by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Friday August 29 2014, @07:35AM (#87081) Homepage
        You are particularly slow. "wait until you leave the bar and ambush you" - why, at that point, has the perpetrator of the crime not *already been arrested*?
        You are saying, explicitly, either that it's more sensible to not have the guy arrested, and then to shoot him, or that you are too stupid to have the guy arrested and prefer to shoot him - which of the two is it? Are you stupid or a psychopath?
        --
        Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
        • (Score: 2) by mhajicek on Saturday August 30 2014, @03:31PM

          by mhajicek (51) on Saturday August 30 2014, @03:31PM (#87572)

          You would apparently prefer to sling insults rather than think. It is possible for a drugging attempt to fail without revealing the identity of the criminal, or even that a crime is attempted. Consider if the hand over the glass is sufficient defense against the drugging and the criminal skips the drugging attempt. Consider also if the criminal is not chatting you up when drugging your drink, but instead manages to do so without being noticed. Obviously it is preferable to have the criminal arrested if that is a reasonable possibility, but that is not always the case. You don't solve problems for the general case very often, do you?

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          The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek