Tuesday is Good News Day
At first I thought I’d write about today’s topic, because just reading the article’s headline, Nail polish may prevent date rape elicited a smile and piqued my curiosity. It turns out it’s a modern (and fashionable) twist on an old solution to detecting date rape drugs. I’ve heard of coasters or other bar implements that can detect these drugs in a drink, but access to them is dependent on the bar using these coasters. This solution puts the tool literally into the hands of the intended victim.
Alas, there’s a downside. while it’s good to be able to detect if someone has slipped a drug into your drink, the most common date rape drug is alcohol, knowingly consumed. So Undercover Colors’ impact may be limited, but preventing even a small percentage of rapes is still noteworthy.
What I’m really loving about this, like many other recent innovative solutions, is that 4 college men created this product to address what’s a major social concern on college campuses. Lately I’ve been hearing about many stories of innovative problem solvers and entrepreneurs putting their talents to work to decrease sexual violence. Often they’re developing tools to promote safety or to quickly connect with others if you’re in a risky situation.
I wish we could innovate a way to stop people from committing relationship and sexual abuse, but in the meantime let’s celebrate some great innovations.