Stri Suraksha App To Ensure Women Safety

The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) has developed a mobile app that helps the user identify and report different forms of violence against women at home, public place, workplace or cyberspace. The app has been conceptualised by Enfold Trust, developed by CDAC and financed by UNICEF.

Enfold Proactive Health Trust has developed the content for Stri Suraksha app, which will be launched countrywide on Thursday. Violence against women is a major cause of concern in the country, but is unfortunately under-reported due to taboos related to it. Effective implementation of various laws that can save women against perpetrators and bring them to justice is usually foiled by lack of awareness, either by women or the people who want to help them.

Stri Suraksha App details how to recognize and report violence against women in different places - home, public places, workplace and cyberspace; learn about relevant laws and sections, resisting without aggravating, intervention and community based Restorative Justice. Emergency numbers for reporting and reintegration of Self exercises for recovery are also included.

Ashika Shetty, head of program development and communication, Enfold Trust said that the implementation of the idea began in 2016. “The app has been conceptualized by Enfold Trust and the main reason behind it is to inform women about laws that will help them out. There are many laws, but awareness is low. The app will come in handy for those who want to help women in distress,” she said.

“It is not an SOS message app, but more along the lines of prevention or preemption. It empowers the users with the knowledge on legal and other aspects. It also helps in the process of healing, be it emotional, physical or mental as the app has a lot of content on how to deal with such issues. We were working on apps for children and that was when we realised that there is a need to develop a security app for women as well, because the effect of violence is the same. It can be a saviour as it provides the right knowledge of one's rights," she added.