App Developers How have Technology and Digital tools contributed to the functioning of women’s safety in the world?

A woman’s safety around the world has always been a topic standing in a balustrade since ancient times. The alarming question always being- Did it get any better? You will be surprised to learn how much time and work of a mobile app development company has put into the safety of women. As a matter of fact, emerging digital tools and technology have contributed greatly to women’s safety in the world. Here in this blog we will discuss how the best mobile app development company sends out amazing technologies and apps to make this world a better place for women to live in.

 

As per a report presented by GSMA and Cherie Blair Foundation it was evidently discovered that smartphones can revolutionise the way women live in today’s world. In the studies it was found that out of 2000 women surveyed from low to middle income countries, 41 percent of the women found increased income and professional earning opportunities. Around 83% of the women claimed they felt highly independent and around 93% claimed to feel the same.

 

This era of digital advancement has navigated to a safer place where technology is also now safeguarding the women community as a whole.

 

These findings show that access to and, importantly, the ability to understand and use technologies, can have a positive impact on women’s freedom of expression, education, and employment opportunities. In spite of these gains, however, women in emerging markets face significant barriers to technology access and adoption; challenges include cost, literacy, cultural norms, safety, and lack of understanding of potential applications. As a result, women in the developing world are up to 37 percent less likely to own a mobile phone than men, and, compared with men in developing countries, 25 percent fewer women use the internet.

 

The Women and the Web report found that the market opportunity in getting 150 million women and girls online is worth between US$50 billion and US$70 billion and could contribute an estimated US$13 billion to US$18 billion annually to developing countries’ GDPs.  This explains why Mobile app development company in Dubai and app development companies in Kuwait find scope in developing apps for women empowerment. Similarly, GSMA reports that adding 300 million female subscribers in low- and middle-income countries will result in US$13 billion in revenue to mobile operators.

By better understanding and integrating women’s needs into product development, marketing, and distribution, information and communications technology (ICT) companies can develop profitable new markets while supporting social progress for women. For this article, I spoke with seven leading thinkers in women’s empowerment from NGOs, government, and business to explore what these opportunities might look like and what ICT companies are already doing to expand access to technology for women in emerging markets.

 

Learn more with: Must-Have Women Safety Apps in 2021

What are the benefits of a women safety app?

Women safety apps are much more than a GPS locator. It has various features that are essential for women’s safety. Here are the benefits of a women safety app-

 

• Users may form particular groups and invite individuals to share their real-time location using the app.
• Unless they are a member of the group, a group member does not have access to the user’s location.
• It allows parents to keep track of their children’s whereabouts in real time.

 

• It provides security features on the web and on mobile devices to safeguard and connect family members.

 

• It goes beyond simple GPS monitoring to provide emergency assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

 

• The app’s Emergency Dispatch Service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but it tracks crash detection and transmits the user’s precise position with family, police, and paramedics.
• The SOS button, which allows users to send an alarm if they are in danger and receive immediate assistance.
• Users may check the family’s prior visits’ location history, retrace their travels, and observe the stops they made along the route.
• It sends out alerts to users and their group members when they check in and out of places.
• By touching on any group member’s profile photo on the in-app map, users may go straight to them.
• It provides ID Theft Protection & Restoration with up to $1M in coverage since it gathers, maintains, and exchanges sensitive information.

 

 

Tech Requirements for Women’s Safety given by any top mobile app development company

Most of the people I interviewed suggested that to close the gender gap in technology, ICT companies must adapt their products and offerings to women by specifically integrating local cultural contexts. Products need to be based on actual needs and experiences of women in their communities. A few companies and women’s empowerment organizations have already begun to do this effectively by considering some important best practices:

Create safe environments and focus on women’s empowerment: Dell recognized that women in Kabul, Afghanistan, were largely excluded from or harassed when attending male-dominated internet cafes, so the company created the city’s first women-only cafe in Kabul. The cafe also offers training and mentoring programs for those who do not have experience with the web or do not understand how it can be relevant to their lives. In a similar fashion, Vodafone encourages women’s empowerment in India through “Angel Stores,” which are run and managed entirely by women, and which have resulted in more women feeling comfortable buying phones. Vodafone now runs 15 Angel Stores in 13 states across India.

Make adaptations based on local languages and customs: According to Mahesh Novak, a business analyst with GSMA mWomen, changing several aspects of a voice-messaging service for female farmers in Kenya helped increase response rates and trust in a service that provides crop tips, market prices, and other information to support their businesses. After noticing that female farmers were not using the service, GSMA made several changes: switching voice alerts from a man’s voice to a woman’s voice, providing translation options (from primarily English-based devices), and using icons and voice capabilities that help illiterate populations use the service.

Share stories to inspire new applications of existing products and services: Mariam Memarsadeghi, the executive director of Tavaana.org, an organization that provides online training in human rights and digital safety to Iranian activists, shared a story about HARASSmap, a volunteer-based mobile app that collects and geographically documents incidents of sexual harassment in Egypt. Memarsadeghi suggests that ICT companies share stories such as this to inspire women to adopt and use technologies in ways that are relevant to their own local needs. In Iran, for example, she envisions Egypt’s HARASSmap could be adapted to report incidents of wrongful arrests for “violations” of Islamic dress code.

Collaborate with local partners: Ever since Qualcomm started an online mentorship programme for female entrepreneurs in Malaysia, it was critical to get early feedback on what has been and wasn’t working, so the business teamed up with Grameen Foundation, which deployed field officers to visit with the trainees on a regular basis. Qualcomm discovered that some highly active trainees were being pushed to drop out by their spouses or fathers as a result of Grameen’s direct interactions with the women. Qualcomm responded by inviting the trainees’ spouses and dads to participate in various portions of the training programme, allowing them to feel more connected and supportive of their partners or daughters. As a result of this shift, substantially fewer women were forced to drop out of school.

 

Best Personal Safety Apps

The personal safety of women has been known to be an issue of yesterday that still exists today. For every problem there is also a solution. The technological advancements of today’s world has made it possible to affirm women’s safety more than a text that says ‘reached home safely’.

Here are some of the best apps that have transformed the virtues of safety in today’s unpredictable world-

 

 

• Circulo
  This was an innovative initiative launched by Biden. Circulo is believed to be the technological avatar for the Guardian Project. Circulo allows you to share your whereabouts with small groups of your family or friends. This app is fully encrypted so you do not have to panic about the privacy of your information. Cicrulo comes with a very easy user interface that you can access without sharing a phone number, email or even a name.

 

• Sister
  The name of this app justifies its core. Sister is an app available for users as a safety ailment for free. For additional safety, Sister comes with an emergency SOS button. Pressing this button will alert selected contacts. Such a feature can be really helpful when a victim feels unsafe while walking or traveling alone.

• One Scream Alarm
  At the moments of accidents the feelings of panic and anxiety make it hard for people to perform even a single easy task. This is where One Scream Alarm can turn out to be a saviour. This app is known for its simplicity. With its sensors it determines if you are in danger and sends a custom message to your contact. The app always gives you 20 seconds to cancel sending the messages and is extremely useful in times of suspicious situations.

• beSafe
  With beSafe you can add guardians for emergencies. The contacts that you will select as your guardians will be able to follow your locations when you travel to and from work. beSafe also comes with the SOS feature like other safety apps that alerts the guardians and sends them GPS location.

• Red Panic Button

 

 

With the red panic button app users have to mention their emergency contact as soon as they download this app. If any user presses the red panic button, the location of the app is sent to emergency contacts via Google maps.

 

This app also allows users to send a panic alert email on Twitter or Facebook panic button. This action will publish an alert message for the users and followers on your social networking sites.

 

 

 

Conclusion

These articles indicate how incorporating gender-specific, local demands into product development and distribution can assist more women in poor countries to have access to and use technology that can help them better their lives. However, in order to effectively close the gender gap, ICT businesses must expand these efforts. A top Mobile app development company should also determine the need of the hour and scale up the projects to make the safety of women a better picture in the world.

Companies must invest in solutions that can be easily shared or replicated at scale in order to reduce redundant efforts targeted at empowering women. “To prevent repetitive efforts and reach scale, ICT developers should consider investing in reusable components such as messaging platforms, client management, and other extendable systems,” Mercy Corps’ chief innovation officer Ann Mei Chang said. Charu Adesnik, Cisco’s Public Benefit Investments team lead and corporate relations manager, echoed the need for open-source systems that anybody can alter or use to reduce duplication of effort and expenses.

The possibility for technology to enhance the lives of women and girls around the world is too great to pass up. “If we combine the best of the global technology industry with the ingenuity and resourcefulness of women on the ground to solve the digital divide challenge, we can unlock a colossal wave of human potential and freedom for future generations,” says Jensine Larsen, founder of World Pulse and a global leader in women’s empowerment.

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