In this guest post, Keshet Bachan, gender equality activist and blogger at The XX Factor, questions whether mobile phone applications addressing street violence are an effective way to prevent violence against women. What do you think?
Can mobile ‘apps’ really prevent or discourage instances of violence against women? This question has been on my mind since a colleague shared this video from Voice of America about a mobile app called ‘Fight Back’, marketed as ‘India’s first mobile app for women’s safety’.
The video sparked an email discussion that raised some interesting questions that deserve a closer examination.
The VOA story provides a holistic view of violence against women and the developers of the mobile phone application admit that they are but one element in a broader system that needs to respond to instances of violence. They discuss the involvement of police and other duty bearers, such as municipal bodies, which need to address reports women make and do more to reduce their risks. I applaud this approach and the way in which the developers acknowledge the limitations of their application, which I find refreshing.
At the same time I feel this application distracts attention away from more prevalent (and deadly) issues. According to the World Health Organization 10-69% of women stated that they had been physically assaulted by an intimate partner at some point in their lives. The WHO also reports that 40-70% of female murder victims were killed by an intimate partner. A recent survey in the UK showed that one in three girls aged 13 – 17 reported sexual abuse from a partner and one in four had experienced some form of physical partner violence. The UK police receive a call for help regarding relationship abuse every minute.
The degree to which this mobile phone application promotes the notion of ‘stranger danger’ distracts attention from the urgent and more prevalent issue of family and intimate partner violence. Moreover, the fact that the application has a GPS tracker to trace a woman’s route home could inadvertently contribute to both increasing women’s fear of violence in public spaces as well as playing into the hands of those who seek to control women’s mobility by pleading the need to ‘protect’ them by knowing their whereabouts at all times.
In this context a colleague commented that a GPS enabled function could allow ‘even a moderately tech-savvy user to trace the woman in question’ – which could serve to increase traditional control over women who dare to step outside the confines of convention (and the home) even further.
There’s a disparity between the actual risk of being molested or assaulted in the street, and the level to which women fear it. One thing this mobile app could help with is mapping the actual instances of violence. This could in fact serve to reduce women’s fear, proving that violence outside the home is not as common or as severe as people might believe. At the same time the app could also shed light on the places where women are more prone to abuse (dark alleys or well lit train stations?) and call for concrete actions like streetlights to improve safety.
The application (as always) leaves it up to women to try protect themselves and does little to tackle the root causes of violence. For instance, research from India (where this application was developed) found that almost all police officers interviewed agreed that ‘a husband is allowed to rape his wife’, while 68% of judges felt that ‘provocative attire was an invitation to rape’ (Khan and Battacharya, 2010). The application would do well to connect its users to a platform for social mobilization and consciousness raising work that could create a critical mass of people who will work together to challenge traditional attitudes around gender.
Some of the other questions raised by this application, and others of its ilk, concern the development of such applications and the development of technology itself.
Does the sex of the person developing the application have an impact on the relevance of the application for persons of the opposite sex (i.e. can men develop useful applications for women)? Is technology itself biased in favor of one gender over the other (i.e. is technology inherently male)? As these questions assume rigid gender binaries the answer must inevitably be ‘no’. At the same time, research has shown that women use technology differently and that they are not well represented amongst technology developers.
Technology can be useful to both sexes and really it is a question of how one applies it that counts. In the same vein, it shouldn’t matter who’s behind developing the application but whether or not the application is answering a real need. (Let us recall that simply being a woman, doesn’t mean you’re more in touch with other women — the CEO of playboy is Hugh Hefner’s daughter).
I’m not convinced that women need a mobile phone application to protect them from strangers on a dark street. If I were asked ‘what do you think would make the streets of Delhi safer for women’, an app is not the first thing that would spring to my mind.
Reblogged this on GirlsReport's Blog.
Interesting post. The YWCA Canada has developed an app that combines geo-locating safety features, an emergency alerts (through BBM, email and a phone call) AND anti-violence tools and programming for young women combining prevention and safety – it’s an interesting comparison – here are the links:
http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/76867?lang=en
http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/ywca-safety-siren/id372269044?mt=8
[…] Link: Can mobile phone apps prevent violence against women? […]
Technology alone can not change the Mentality of people but can initiate a drive to bring change in the mindset and align people to an issue.
Here Mobile application and platform http://www.fightbackmobile.com have been used as an medium to initiate this drive to bring in people together to fight this type of crime against women that happen on the streets Or on the roads. New Delhi, India witnesses one rape case every week and most of these happen by abducting women from Streets/Roads. With economy going upward the crime rate is too heading in the same direction in the developing countries like India. So where this mobile app facilitate to provide safety on roads for women, the web site also connects other people to this initiative. All the People registered to this portal receive email when any SOS is raised by any mobile application user and can also see the location from where SOS is generated by clicking on a link provided in the email.
I believe that it is great that companies are creating apps for women to use for their protection. Although this app does not address the underlying root problems, it is a tool that women can use to protect themselves and give them a greater sense of security. If I were ever in serious danger and I could use my phone, I would absolutely utilize an app like this one to call out for help. I believe this app offers protection even for those victimized by intimates, providing a means to instantly alert family members and authorities when they are being victimized. The app developers are not so naïve to believe they have the total answer to violence against women, but they have used technology to provide women with a means to reach out for help when threatened by an intimate or stranger. If this app can prevent even a few acts of violence, then it is a wonderful blessing for those women in India and around the globe.
If this app saves one woman on the streets of Delhi it will be a success. I do not think that the introduction of this app, in any way, diminishes the importance of the issue of domestic violence. Couldn’t the woman who is threatened by someone she knows also use this app? It is significant that this app does not notify the police, but notifies a trusted friend or relative. Certainly the app has to be used with care to prevent the GPS tracker from being used against the woman. This app may serve to highlight safety issues for women and the need for a new consciousness to challenge the problems they face in India.
If this really protect women, this is the best app!
[…] January wrote a blog post questioning the ability of a mobile application to protect women from violence. the mobile app […]
[…] https://lindaraftree.com/2012/01/23/can-mobile-phone-apps-prevent-violence-against-women/ http://womensissues.about.com/od/violenceagainstwomen/tp/Best-Apps-For-Women-Concerned-With-Safety-And-Security.htm http://www.huffingtonpost.com/janell-burley-hofmann/iphone-contract-from-your-mom_b_2372493.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003 […]
[…] For more horrors and such, you can try reading the Tehelka series of articles – Anatomy of Rape and The rapes will go on. There’s also this article which is in two minds about the use of technology as well(can be used to balance perspective, just in case) – https://lindaraftree.com/2012/01/23/can-mobile-phone-apps-prevent-violence-against-women/. […]
“If I were asked ‘what do you think would make the streets of Delhi safer for women’, an app is not the first thing that would spring to my mind.”
I am one of the two developer of ShakeSOS App. I don’t think anyone including the creator of such Apps will disagree with the above statement. But the important thing here is technology can definitely help in prevention of violence and I do believe that mobile App is small part of it. While developing ShakeSOS we focused on two important things 1) GPS or Internet should not be required to find the location and 2) One should not need to wake up Phone and Open App in case of emergency.
[…] despite reports that nine out of ten women feel safer by having a mobile phone[3], some bloggers question the efficacy of using mobile apps to address violence against girls and women in cities. Apps don’t deal with […]
[…] despite reports that nine out of ten women feel safer by having a mobile phone [3], some bloggers question the efficacy of using mobile apps to address violence against girls and women in cities. Apps don’t deal with […]
Reblogged this on The XX Factor and commented:
this is an old post of mine that I’m reblogging, as this issue has been gaining increased attention of late.
I think smart apps like Citizen COP, have enough safety measures for Women and children. This app not only let you send a SOS message easily, but also have features like e-LakshnamRekha that smartly identify when can its owner can be in danger sending the SOS spontaneously.
[…] It's easy to explain away the efforts (however misguided) of both apps to prevent violent crimes against women. I've read some accounts which question whether such apps would be more effective if they were created by women for women, for example Linda Rafter asks: […]