KATHMANDU,March 22: You are walking back home alone at night from the office. You sense someone behind and your mind is full of fear. You are confused about what you should do; will anyone hear you when you scream? The dark alley seems quite isolated and you wish someone was there to help you.

A Self Help app will always be that someone besides you. 

Women and girls can download the app on their android phones, make changes to the app setting according to the requirement and set the number of five saviors who will be altered in case of emergency. Women and girls can simply press the power button of their device 3-4 times which will automatically open the app and send message to saviors with your current location.

Through the app, victims can also report incident of violence by phone call, SMS or online and even view details of organizations working on violence against women and girls.

This app was developed by one of the teams in one day hackathon, held in June 2013 as an attempt to address the challenge of domestic violence by building innovative technology solutions to assist the victims of Violence against Women (VAW) and the agencies that work to support them. The app is a part of solution of FightVaw, an integrated platform that provides comprehensive solution to combat Violence against Women and Girls in Nepal, through strategic use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). 

The app was conceptualized by a team of five members, including Anish Parajuli, Binisha Shrestha, Dipendra Kusi ,Kabindra Shakya, Nhasala Joshi and secured second position in the hackathon.

“The app will act as a preventive measure against violence against women and will make them feel safe in difficult situation,” said Prawesh Shrestha, manager of community innovations at Young Innovations.

The app is presented by young innovations and can be downloaded from Google Play Store.

 
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