Shrouq Tariq
Assaults on women in recent weeks seem to have gone up like never before.
On August 15 unknown men reportedly undug the body of a freshly buried teenage girl in Thatta (a city in the Pakistani province of Sindh) and raped it.
The incident of TikToker Aysha Akram in Lahore on 14th August, Noor Mukadam’s brutal murder last month, and the rape of a woman on the Motorway incident last year are some of the incidents that have caused concern and anxiety among women here.
But, did you know your phone has a built-in feature that could help you out of unsafe situations? It’s the emergency SOS option on your phone that can alert people in your emergency contact list about your trouble.
Don’t know how it works? Here is how you can preemptively cover yourself:
- For an android phone Simply press and hold the screen lock button as well as any volume button, and an Emergency SOS slider will appear and soon initiate an automatic call. Alternatively, click the phone’s screen lock button five times in quick succession to initiate the siren and calls the police
- You can enable iPhone to start Emergency SOS when you click the side button five times. Go to Settings > Emergency SOS, then turn on Call with Side Button. On other iPhone models: Click the side button or Sleep/Wake button (depending on your model) five times, then drag the Emergency SOS slider.
Other than this other mobile phone applications could help you out in a troubling situation;
Eyewatch SOS for Women
Eye watch SOS for Women can help by sending your location and audio video signature to your protectors-parents/ spouse or friends.
Simply press the ‘I am Safe’ option and inform your protectors that you have reached the location safely, the app has been praised for its high location accuracy, functioning without GPRS, and Safety confirmation feature.
Hollaback
The Hollaback app gathers evidence of harassment and crime on the streets to alert authorities about the extent of the problem. The app notes your location and lets you explain how you were harassed or what you may have witnessed.
SpotnSaveFeelsecure
SpotnSaveFeel secure was created to allow users to inform family and friends about their whereabouts. The app sends an alert along with the user’s location to a pre-selected contact every two minutes.
iGoSafely
iGoSafely is a women and children safety alarm and emergency contact notification tool which sends alert messages, emails, and/or GPS positions to emergency contacts on activation.
The app keeps on sending messages, every minute unless the alarm is turned off using the secret disarm code. You can also send your GPS location and also a recording of what going on around you in case of an incident.
It can be activated by shaking the phone or simply by removing the headphones.
BSafe
BSafe features utilize an SOS system for safety which can be activated by voice or touch. Selected contacts receive an audio alarm and the user’s location.
The apps live-stream and record whatever emergency a user is in, and send location along with the audio and video to their selected guardian. The app also has a timer alarm and a siren.
This app is available on Google Playstore and iTunes.
Shake2Safety
Shake your device to send a message or make a phone call asking for help from a specified contact.
When the app is running, you will see an indicator in your status bar, as well as a notification in your phone’s notification drawer to inform you that Shake2Safety is active.
Shake your device, and you will receive vibration and a three-second countdown before Shake2Safety sends a message to your selected contact asking for help.
When GPS is enabled, your exact location is shared in the message as well and because Shake2Safety uses built-in SMS and phone calls, you don’t need a data connection.
My SafetyPin
My SafetyPin app lets users select the safest route and if you enter an unsafe location it notifies your family or friends so they can track you.
The safety of an area is measured using various parameters like public transport, visibility, security, etc.
The app is available on Google Playstore and iTunes.
Chilla
Chilla app can detect the scream of the user and sends an alert message to the woman’s guardian. Chilla app sends alert messages to pre-configured contacts by pressing the power button five times.
It can be downloaded from Google Playstore and iTunes.
Police departments from different provinces have made their mobile apps too for women’s safety.
Punjab police have launched a ‘Women Safety App’ that will enable women to contact the police through a message without making any calls.
It will also enable the police to trace the location of the complainants through their smartphones.
KPITB (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Technology Board) launched The Safe Women app in KPK. This mobile app ensures the safety of women by connecting them to their friends, family, local security, and rescue authorities during their daily commute via the first women-only Pink Bus, which is being implemented in Abbottabad and Mardan through financial support from the Japanese Government and technical support from UN Women and UNOPS.
The Sindh police announced at the end of last year, the launching of a smartphone application and a web portal in an attempt to modernize policing for the protection and security of vulnerable groups of society, especially women and children, and called for more efforts to stop human rights violations in the province.
Shrouq Tariq is the Research Analyst and writer at Matrix Media. Her work has been published in number of national and international newspapers . She’s also a member of the Matrix Media editorial board. She is currently completing her MPhil in Defense and Strategic Studies from Quaid-i-Azam university. She tweets at @shrouqtariq
