New Women Power – Anti-rape Gadgets
- Created on Friday, 14 June 2013 10:35
- Last Updated on Thursday, 27 March 2014 10:39
- Written by womanspanorama
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New Women Power – Anti-rape Gadgets
Man – an erring mortal and the woman – a simpleton diva or a sobbing mother, caring sister and even a betrayed girl friend. Move over, these images of 1950s and 1960s are now things of the past. Gone behind are also the days when taking cue from Bollywood, women would throw red-chilly powder or even use pepper spray as saviour tools against rape attempts.In the new millennium, a fashionable vest has been discovered that can jolt molesters out of their wits!
And once these become common usage; well, men who try to harass women in crowded places may get the shock of their lives.
Three students from Chennai’s SRM University now offer on the table an innovative ‘anti-rape underwear (like a bra or lingerie) poetically named ‘SHE’ or Society Harnessing Equipment.
Externally, it looks like a nightgown, ordinarily worn by women or teenage girls, but the garment is literally a power packed GPS —— Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based satellite navigation system that provides location and time information in all weather conditions.
The sensor-enabled device capable of temporarily incapacitating assaulters off their feet by triggering an 3800 kv electric shock at the press of button by the wearer.
The inventors- Manisha Mohan (Aeronautical Engineering), Niladri Basu and Rimpi Tripathy (Instrumentation and Control Engineering) had got down to work on the same following the gory Delhi gangrape of December 2012.
“Of course, it was the concern for the women in pain that triggered the idea. It was also the hatred against the molesters and the eve teasers,” says Manisha Mohan.
And as the product seemed to have caught the imagination of many, Manisha and her team were invited by researchers at IIM-Ahmedabad to deliver a talk on their product.
Thankfully, Manisha and her team mates are not the only one to think on these lines.
Two fashion-designing students Nishant Priya and Shahzad Ahmad from NIFT have also worked on similar project to present “anti-molestation” jacket, a creation which awaits patent. They hope to bring out the ‘jacket’ commercially by 2014.
Interestingly, their concept is similar to the policemen’s stun-gun, which administers an electric shock of 110 V and puts the attacker off-guard. It can also immobilize the assaulters for about 15 minutes. The jacket looks “no different” from the rest available in the market, but there are a few features to put them in a different league altogether, sources said.
They have also ensured that the jacket should be functional and be made available at affordable price. Necessary precautions have been taken to ensure that the electric shock is mild.
| Externally, it looks like a nightgown, ordinarily worn by women or teenage girls, but the garment is literally a power packed GPS |
There are also talks that it should not be turned into a ‘weapon’; as in such cases not only will the device be misused, it would also require ‘licensing’ thereby raise the cost of the garment.
In the case of ‘SHE’ underwear deviced by Chennai team, the vest-like cloth, comes with an inbuilt GPS system and an electrical-sensor circuit. The wearer holds the remote which can trigger the shock. At just the press of a button, the offender will be incapacitated as the cloth is capable of discharging 3800 kV electric shock.
“The inbuilt GPS system would help track location of the victim. The sensors of the vest are capable of sending emergency messages to the police or the near and dear ones alerting them of any mishap,” they say.
The protagonists in the field reject the line that the products like these are aimed at commercial values only. Rather they say enough survey was done and the feedback and findings have been put into the gadget. For example, one of them say, the decision was made that the circuit will be placed near the bosom because in the attempt of rape or road-side eve-teasing, as per survey, women are generally attacked first on their bosom.
Well, devices like these are perhaps the need of the hour especially on the backdrop of lack of women safety across India; the moot question remains whether they would achieve the desired results – in other words will these give the right jolt at the right time to the ‘wrong’ person.
Some skeptics are asking what happens when a wearer meets an accident and the passers by want to help that teenager? Well, skepticism would still prevail.
There are also other vital questions, like - will women actually wear a bra that has sensors and circuits?
The response from Chennai team is emphatic. “None of the electronic equipment will come into contact with the skin. The inner wear/bra/lingerie will be completely safe because it has a very thick insulating layer”.
True, answers to all these and many more questions rest in the womb of time.
Many years back in a popular Hindi film, one character describes beauteous Anarkali and says, perhaps, “seeing her a soldier will lay down his sword, a king will sacrifice his crown and a man will give up his heart”.
Life for Indian women and issues concerning their security have come a full circle. Perhaps the gadgets will have such prowess and in the ultimate empower the common teenager and women on the streets and provide them the basic essentials called the ‘safety and security’.
