Danya Sherman was the unfortunate victim of getting her drink spiked while studying in Spain. Experiences such as hers are highly common. Approximately 1 in 13 college students are reported to be drugged, with most of them being women. In most cases, this comes hand in hand with negative experiences, such as sexual assault.
Sherman was not willing to accept being just another case. She decided to take her traumatizing experience and try to help others by starting a company called Kno-Nap. Her product is a discrete napkin that will change color if a drink was spike.
Sherman is both the CEO and founder on the company, which has grown in the past year and half to about seven employees. Her goal was to create a useful tool that would help empower people in social settings. She explains that most assaults happen with people that know each other, and that’s why it’s important to take social comfort into consideration while still worrying about our welfare.
The Kno-Nap napkin is sensitive to rohypnols, one of the most commonly fond date rape drugs. The napkin will change color within two minutes if the drugs are present. It’s similar to how a pregnancy test works.
The innovative product is yet to be on the market, but when it does, it will cost around the same as regular napkins. Sherman believes that people should not have to carry these around, and that it should be the responsibility of restaurants and bars to provide them as a standard item.