The horrible incident of gang rape of a mother of 3 on the highway by unknowns in front of her children leaves whole Pakistan in shock. The news went viral on social media and left the whole nation startled as the reports confirmed the gang rape of lady.
People reacted differently to the news and recorded their protests over the absurd remarks made by CCPO followed by the incident as this is not the only incident and there has been a whole series of such incidents which shook people including the ones of minors being raped where a dead body of 5 year old ‘Marwah’ was found who was mercilessly killed followed by the rape a few days ago.
Other than mourning and cursing lawlessness in the country and criticizing government and law enforcement agencies, people are actively seeking all the applicable solutions from keeping licensed weapons to teaching self defense techniques to ladies and young kids in the family to ensure the safety of their loved ones.
Technology has solved many problems in the recent past and has made life easier for individuals around the world and it is believed to surely help in this particular problem as well.
Social media platforms are believed to have acted as tools for giving harassers as a place to carry out the misconduct but they have come handy in their exposition as well so it is both the positive and negative way out there for users.
There are applications available online which come handy as anti rape tools and warn the close ones, emergency contacts or perhaps official authorities in case a potential victim feels unsafe in any given circumstances and wants to alert. Those applications can communicate the user’s current location is well.
Some of the common applications used around the world are listed below.
- Athena
Athena can be worn as a necklace or can pinned anywhere including purse, outfit. The recessed button is usually at the center to prevent accidental alerts. Upon pressing/holding the button for 3 seconds an alarm is generated that will notify friends and family of the current user location. In the case you want soft alerts of any potential threat you can press the button three times consecutively if you fear being a potential target.
2. Stiletto
One functionality that sets Stiletto apart from other wearable jewelry or app, other than its stylish look, is the ability to place 911 calls on your behalf. Less than an inch on all sides, it can be worn as a pendant on necklaces or bracelets, and with a single press, dials an emergency contact, or the police. If you’re unable to speak for yourself, the automated voice assistant
3. Watchoverme
This is a free app available for Android and iOS, allowing the user to set a timer when traveling alone. When you’re in a situation where you don’t have time to make a call for help, just shake your phone and even if it’s locked the app turns on your phone’s alarm, video camera and sends an alert to your pre-set emergency contacts. The company that created it dubbed itself the “Waze of personal safety” stating, “instead of giving you traffic updates, it warns you when you’re about to enter a high-crime zone.”
Unfortunately the use of technology and it’s understanding and exposure is still not as common as that of first world countries which makes the solutions not so practical for this demography in the given circumstances hence a bigger target market in this region remains unreached but the use of smartphones and understanding of tech affairs are growing and the recently conducted studies show a positive number so It will likely to be a viable solution in near future.
Perhaps the implementation of such solutions at the government level would be the need of time so that the potential victims can be effectively helped and rescued in these situations and law enforcement agencies can help them in a timely manner and other than that Digital mediums can be used to educate masses and raise awareness about how heinous the crimes are.
