Women’s safety is of great concern even in 2019, way past the archaic era. It’s almost comical how the safety of women is envisaged all across the globe, making it seem like “just another casual moral issue” when in actuality it is the stark opposite. The rate of assaults and manhandling that women go through on a daily basis is jaw-dropping. At least nine out of ten women experience some sort of sexual harassment and less than ten percent of that is even reported.
Technology is evolving rapidly day by day. Many countries and lawmakers all around the world are now taking advantage of this progressing technology to make the streets safer for women in the shape of apps, and other tracking systems. The Delhi government, the capital of India, has contrived a mobile-based application meant exclusively for the safety of women traveling in autos and non-app cabs called Himmat Plus.
Himmat Plus app was launched in 2015 by the Delhi government to ensure the safety of women travelers. The app allows its passengers to make an emergency call to the Delhi Police and their respective emergency contact in times of distress. Himmat Plus app is available on both Android and iOS. The registration process is not cumbersome at all and takes only a few minutes to launch the app. Anil Baijal, Lieutenant Governor rolled out a new ‘QR Code Scheme’ on the app to simplify the verification process of the driver and raise an alarm if need be.
The passengers’ journey is reported via scanning the QR Code that is placed on the headrest of the driver facing the passenger. The passenger is supposed to scan the QR Code to validate the registration of the driver with the Delhi Police. If the driver isn’t registered with the Delhi Police, the user receives an auto-generated message that says, “Driver is not registered”. The user can then call the police control room or press the SOS button on the app. When the QR Code is scanned, the user receives a pop-up notification every five minutes like, “Are you reaching safely?” with options like, “On the Way”, “Reaching Safely”, and “In Trouble”. In case the user reports the journey, the app sends out the user’s location with the driver’s unique ID to the Himmat Plus dashboard alerting the Police Head Quarters.
At least 3,000 taxis and autos outside railway stations, metro stations, and airports have been fitted with these QR Codes. This app is of great help to women who travel every day. Himmat Plus is a free app and only consumes 8 MB of space. Not just this, in this Utopian world, having a reliable safety app exclusively meant for women instills reassurance giving them the confidence to travel at any time of the day or night without worrying excessively.