The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development recently started many initiatives to give boost to women safety measures planned by the government. The idea is to show how technology can actually make you safe if used correctly and effectively. The recent initiative of Ï am Being Trolled” app will go a long way in ensuring that trolling and eve teasing on social media is curbed. Apart from these new initaives, the ministry has also planned other apps around women’s safety.
“The woman’s panic button on mobile is going to see light of the day finally towards the end of March. The way it works is simple and straightforward - press the button when you sense danger and the nearest police station will be notified of your situation immediately. The police will then try to reach you wherever you may be,”explained Maneka Gandhi, Union Minsiter of Women and Child Development. The app can be downloaded without any extra cost.
There is another “Shouting app” that could come in handy too. “While the panic button will send an alarm to the nearby police chowki; the shouting app will alert common people near you and they can act. The way to use it is also fairly simple — just tap on the Shouting app whenever you sense danger, 10 mobile phones of common users will be notified about your situation and they can come to your aide in a matter of seconds,”said a spokesperson.
While these new innovative apps will be introduced in March end, the Ï am trolled” app is still in its infant phase. After the Gurmehar Kaur controversy, where the 20 -year-old Kaur was trolled online for her video message which she released in 2016, there is a need for some urgent tech intervention. “This particular app will address only serious threats on social media. If you feel harassed/trolled and the threats are getting serious; log into this app and register your complain. The police will take action pronto,” the spokesperson added.
There are other apps that have been launched for safety of women:
1) Safetipin
Safetipin is one of the good options when it comes to safety apps for women. The app is designed keeping in mind the concept of personal safety. It incorporates all the essential features such as GPS tracking, emergency contact numbers, directions to safe locations etc. The app also pins the safe areas along with their safety scores to go at the time of any problem. It also enables the users to pin unsafe areas and help others. Safetipin is available in Hindi, Bahasa and Spanish, besides English.
2) Raksha
The Raksha app is designed to ensure that women stay safe always. The app comes equipped with a button, which will send alerts to your loved ones with your location in a situation of distress. You can select the contacts, which will be able to see your location. Moreover, if the app is switched off and is not working then also you will be able to send alerts by simply pressing the volume key for three seconds.
3) Himmat
The Himaat app is a free safety app recommend for women by the Delhi Police. In order to use the app, the user has to register at the Delhi Police website. Once the registration is complete the user will receive an OTP, which has to be entered at the time of completing the app configuration.
4) The Smart 24*7
The Smart24x7 app is supported by the various states' police just to ensure the safety of women and senior citizens. The app sends panic alerts to emergency contacts in a problematic situation. It also records voices and also takes photographs during the panic situation and transfers these to the police as well.
5) bSafe
The bSafe app ensures the safety and security of women. It allows contacts follow you through a live GPS trail and also set a timed alarm which goes off if you haven’t ‘checked in’. Moreover, it will also make your phone ring with a fake call and also notifies the emergency contacts with the location, video and even siren.
Youth Reporters Say This Is An APP-t Way To Go
It is a good step to counter violence threats and trolls on social media against woman, but then it is not just women who are victims, there are times even men face threat. So, this anti-troll app should not be gender specific.
Viraj Shah, class XII, St Kabir, Ahmedabad
Help centres, special police stations, women compartments and now I am trolled app. Innumerable steps have been taken by the government to check crime against women, but impact has been negligible because planning is always amazing, but implementation remains a sad story. The day we balance the two aspects, the results would be rewarding.
Gaurang Jani, sociologist, Ahmedabad
Trolling of women has to stop but it will only stop when everybody else thinks it is wrong. This app is a very nebulous thing, the app may or may not work. We had a lot of apps that came up after the Nirbhaya incident but many of them are not really helpful.
Shakun M, social activist, Bengaluru
The idea of an anti-troll app seems like a good step towards attacking online threats and abuse. That being said, I can't help but wonder what actions would actually be taken against such online predators. While it is vital we set up such means beyond blocking that one user, it is important to have action that will actually deter people from trolling others.
Avni Parthan, class X, Greenwood High, Bengaluru
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