Mobile Apps to Help Indian Women in Distress

 Mobile Apps to Help Indian Women in Distress
A screenshot of the mobile App 'Helpi' for women in distress created by One World Foundation India. The android based App is available for free on Google Play. (One World Foundation)
Venus Upadhayaya
4/25/2013
Updated:
4/25/2013

A New Delhi based organization had recently come up with a personal safety mobile application to help women in times of distress. In recent months many incidences of assault on Indian women have been reported in various cities and towns. 

The free Android mobile app, Helpi, is a personal safety smartphone application that users can operate to alert friends and family in the times of an emergency by posting the message on social networking sites. 

The app is designed by One World Foundation India (OWFI) and is available for free on Google Play.

With the push of Helpi’s SOS button, the app sends a pre-configured distress message to all the emergency contact numbers including the user’s Twitter account.

“In such a tech-friendly world, women use mobile phones more often than not. Such an application will allow them to reach out to friends, family, and the social media. It makes for an effective and useful tool that makes women feel secure specially in today’s economy with the kind of professions and work that is happening,” Vikas Goswami, a Board Member of OWFI, said in a press release.

In-addition to allowing users to send time-based alerts, the app also features a database of helpline numbers and tracking location through GPS.

In the last few months, since the rape and death of a 23 years old paramedical student in New Delhi, a few other mobile Apps have been created in public interest and are available for free use.

Another notable use-friendly mobile app for women is Nirbhaya-Be Fearless—the app is helpful in incidences like accident, apart from attempted molestation through pre-defined text messages. The app is developed by SmartCloud Infotech Pvt. Ltd.

Venus Upadhayaya reports on India, China and the Global South. Her traditional area of expertise is in Indian and South Asian geopolitics. Community media, sustainable development, and leadership remain her other areas of interest.
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