
RALEIGH, N.C. - An Indian American engineering graduate of North Carolina State University, Ankesh Madan, who has enrolled this year for a Ph.D. program at Duke, is among four entrepreneurs who have developed a prototype for a new nail polish line that changes color when it comes into contact with date rape drugs. Ankesh Madan – who is also the spokesperson for the group, Tasso Von Windheim –
also enrolled for a Ph.D. program at Duke, Tyler Confrey-Maloney and Stephan Gray – both of whom are North Carolina State University undergraduates, founded Undercover Colors, coined as “the first fashion company working to prevent sexual assault,” The Mary Sue reported. “In the U.S., 18% of women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime,” the company says on its Facebook page. “That’s almost one out of every five women in our country. We may not know who they are, but these women are not faceless. They are our daughters, they are our girlfriends, and they are our friends.”
It adds: “For our first product, we are developing a nail polish that changes color when it comes in contact with date rape drugs such as Rohypnol, Xanax, and GHB. With our nail polish, any woman will be empowered to discreetly ensure her safety by simply stirring her drink with her finger. If her nail polish changes color, she’ll know that something is wrong.
“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. In effect, we want to shift the fear from the victims to the perpetrators. We are Undercover Colors and we are the first fashion company empowering women to prevent sexual assault.”
It adds: “For our first product, we are developing a nail polish that changes color when it comes in contact with date rape drugs such as Rohypnol, Xanax, and GHB. With our nail polish, any woman will be empowered to discreetly ensure her safety by simply stirring her drink with her finger. If her nail polish changes color, she’ll know that something is wrong.
“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. In effect, we want to shift the fear from the victims to the perpetrators. We are Undercover Colors and we are the first fashion company empowering women to prevent sexual assault.”