New iPhone Apps: How Apps Can Help Stop Domestic Violence

Can an iPhone app solve gendered violence?

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence has been taking place since November 25, and will reach its end on December 10. It has brought together the voices of women across the world to come together to end the atrocities happening everyday to women. And now, technology apps and websites are creating platforms in which women can more effectively share stories, ideas, and collaborate for change.

Websites like Take Back The Tech!, Say No To Violence, and others have become a way to connect the world to these problems. The stories can now be shared with the masses all by simply clicking on a link. People can read, share, and become inspired to rally for change in greater numbers, in a shorter span of time, and can create more commotion thanks to these apps and websites.    

I have to admit that I have sometimes been somewhat hesitant to speak out about women’s rights, gender inequality, or anything in between. There are always people who say that women have equal rights that there is no issue, and that gender violence doesn’t exist. While we have had tremendous victories in the move towards gender equality, we are far from being equal.

The “we” I refer to is a wide spectrum of women who are still suffering every day. There are still women who are fighting for all girls to have an opportunity to have an education, like Malala Yousafzai. There are women like Sarah Attar, who want to give girls an opportunity to compete in sports, and just have a chance to try playing a sport. There are hundreds of cases like these, and some are still far worse. There are still cases of young girls being sold as sex slaves, victims of female genital mutilation, women who are battered and abused, and who have no voice in the matter.

The internet has been around for quite some time, and this violence has been around for centuries. No website or app will magically solve gender violence overnight — but it can help. Social activism has been on the rise due to more effective uses of social media websites, apps, and just understanding how to get the message out there. There is no excuse not to get involved anymore. It really is just (or a tap) a click away.