Safety is a feeling that everyone wants to have. Unfortunately, it is often difficult for women to feel safe even in the streets where they call home.
In Gallup data from a survey conducted in 143 countries, it is shown that men are considerably more likely than women to say they feel safe walking alone at night in their communities.
This is clearly a universal issue, but there are steps that can be taken to help women feel safer from predators. This is where technology comes into use. It is no secret that technology has progressively impacted lives all over the world, and it just got even better.
In Bengaluru, India, the police department has just launched a new free app to improve women’s safety. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, unveiled the mobile app ‘Suraksha’ for the safety of women in the city.
This app will be used to help reduce sexual harassment, assault, and other crimes targeting women in the city. Siddaramaiah told reporters, “I am happy to launch this app finally, as I have been telling police to give importance to women’s safety.”
The app allows the user to register two phone numbers of people they want to inform during an emergency.
The app is easy to use. If a user is in danger, she can either press the red button on the ‘Suraksha – Bengaluru City Police’ app or press the power button of her smartphone five times. An SOS alert would be sent along with the location details of the user to the police control room.
Once this happens, the Pink Hoysala team at the nearest point would be informed and take immediate action and update the Command Centre. The case will then be handed over to the jurisdictional police.
“The app, which can be downloaded free on smartphones, will help women in distress to alert police for help, as it is linked to the police control room and patrolling vehicles in the city,” said a police official.
In addition, the app is linked to 51 police patrols vehicles of the city police from the State Secretariat. Primarily controlled by policewomen, the vehicles will be stationed near schools, women’s colleges, places of worship, shopping malls, theatres and sensitive areas across the city.
Furthermore, the vehicles are equipped with GPS and cameras for the staff at the police control room to monitor officers’ video feeds.
We must remember the core reason that we even need apps such as ‘Suraksha’ and what we are looking to accomplish. This kind of initiative is exactly what is needed to increase the safety of women all around the world.
It is important to realize that there are always possible solutions to even the most difficult issues. Hopefully these new ways that we utilize technology will take us one step closer to ensure safety for women and ensure that fewer crimes towards women are committed.
Featured Image by San Sharma on Flickr
Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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