As anti-rape products go, the nail polish sounds a lot more user-friendly and pro-active than most. Still, the fact remains that all anti-rape products are designed to work at the site of the person at risk of victimization. I really wish this were a product that worked in more cases. I also wish we could focus more on structural factors and less on individual rape-avoidance.
Every few months, a new product to help women avoid rape hits the market. This week’s is an innovative new nail polish that can identify the presence of drugs when dipped in a drink.
Considering that conservative estimates put the percentage of American women who’ve suffered sexual assault between 20%-25%, there’s huge market potential for this product. Of course, there is the fact that roofies, a nickname derived from the sedative Rohypnol, are less commonly used by serial predators than alcohol itself. A 2007 National Institute of Justice study found that only 2.4% of sexually assaulted female undergraduates were either certain or thought that they’d been drugged. On the other hand, studies conducted on college campuses show that alcohol is involved in anywhere between 50%-90% of sexual assaults. It is the weapon of choice, as expert David Lisak puts it.
I don’t want to dip my nails into…
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