SafeBangle

A FASHIONABLE BRACELET THAT REPORTS VIOLENCE CASES IN REAL TIME

Location: Uganda
Host: Resilient African Network Uganda
Developer: SafeBangle Technologies Limited
Support Secured: $17,500 USD from UN-Women/Resilient Africa Network, Digital Human Rights Lab & innovation residency at the Response Innovation Lab
Needed: $10,000 for piloting and testing phase in rural context, consolidation and evaluation of evidence including $4,000 for production of 100 bracelets.
Website: www.safebangle.org
With SafeBangle, cases of violence that would have gone unreported will be brought to light and the would-be victim will be able to get immediate help from trusted relatives and friends. SafeBangle supports and empowers women in their efforts to live a fear-free life. With the Covid-19 pandemics, the emerging data from UN WOMEN shows that violence against women and girls, particularly in domestic violence, has intensified since the lockdown as at-home orders expand to contain the virus spread.

Volunteers (from left to right; Hadie and Janet) participating in testing phases found wearing SafeBangle bracelets on abrupt and un-announced visit at Makerere University.

WINNER! 30 MOST INSPIRING DIGITAL INNOVATIONS OF 2020 BY SPINDLE

The Challenge

More than 1 in 5 women aged 15-49 (22%) in the world report having experienced sexual violence at some point in time, compared to less than 1 in 10 (8%) men (UDHS 2016). Gender-Based Violence (GBV) reinforces inequalities between men and women, girls and boys with most of the victims and survivors being women and girls. This has diverse effects on the individual, family, community, and the country at large. Despite global progress in reducing Gender-Based Violence, it is still a major factor of life for many women in Uganda and continues to impact survivor’s immediate sexual, physical, and psychological health. These effects pose longer-term health problems such as discrimination, stigmatization, and societal isolation. Students and workers in low-wage industries that commute during nighttime hours are particularly vulnerable to sexual assault, domestic violence, psychological violence, and trafficking.

The prevalence of Gender-Based Violence is attributed to numerous factors: 1) Lack of social control mechanisms and poverty 2) Inefficiency in existing mechanisms meant to provide support and safety to women when they are threatened 3) No cell reception in certain areas as the telecommunications equipment is too expensive for local communities to afford 4) Existing solutions such as mobile applications are complex and challenging to maneuver in times of distress.

SafeBangle Technologies is a Ugandan-based social enterprise dedicated to designing and developing innovative robust and cheap solutions to curb Gender-Based-Violence and physical assaults to make the world a safer place. The SafeBangle Team is developing a wearable safety tool that can be used by the would-be victims of assaults, SGBV, and other forms of injustice to call their trusted relatives and loved ones for help. The wearable safety bracelet is a tool for safety and will be used primarily by youth, to be their own champions against violence. When discretely triggered, the bracelet sends an alarm by SMS to a chosen group of individuals with the wearer's live location to be rescued immediately. SafeBangle bracelet is a direct response to the feedback of different groups of people in need of technology to safeguard their staff, relatives, and friends. The bracelet is physically small and fashionable with a user-friendly interface for both men and women of all ages. SafeBangle is crafted to be culturally acceptable to achieve discretion and made with state-of-the-art wearable technology for instant alert without using the internet.

The Solution

SafeBangle Technologies is a Ugandan-based social enterprise that has created a wearable safety tool, designed as a bracelet, that enables potential victims of Gender-Based Violence to quickly reach out for help when threatened. Dedicated to designing and developing innovative and affordable solutions to curb physical assaults on women and girls, SafeBangle Technologies, seeks to root out Gender-Based Violence in communities of considerable prevalence. The wearable safety bracelet is designed to be used primarily by youth, empowering them to be their own champions against violence. When discretely triggered, the bracelet sends an alarm by SMS to a chosen group of individuals with the wearer's live location to be rescued immediately. The development of the SafeBangle bracelet is a direct response to the feedback of different groups of people who are in need of discrete mechanisms to safeguard their staff, relatives, and friends. The bracelet is physically small and fashionable with a user-friendly interface for both men and women of all ages. SafeBangle is crafted to be culturally acceptable to achieve discretion and made with state-of-the-art wearable technology for instant alert without using the internet. When discretely triggered, the bracelet sends an alarm by SMS to a chosen group of individuals with the wearer's live location to be rescued immediately.

The Impact

Highlights of the work to date:

Industrial testing of the completed fourth version of SafeBangle prototype
Nominated among winners in 30 most inspiring digital innovations of 2020 by spindle
Carried out research interviews in 5 districts of Karamoja region with senior women and female teenage students, women at Kalerwe Market, visited Not your body organization, and students at Makerere University.
Received safety and protection award and funding from Digital Human Rights Lab for a prototype test with users
Identified and tested business model.
Identified and established relationships with potential users.
The company is fully registered and incorporated as a social enterprise.
Developed a web-interactive system to manage user data at the back-end.

Next Stage: Testing prototype and business model with different customer segments.

Anecdotal reactions to the application and usage of the SafeBangle bracelet have all been positive during the baseline research conducted. From June 2021, with funding from the Digital Human Rights Lab, SafeBangle Technologies Ltd will test its latest prototype with 5 user organizations and 25 participants in urban Kampala. In the last quarter of 2021, with support from RIL Uganda, SafeBangle Technologies Limited will integrate the learnings from this prototype phase and plan for a larger-scale testing phase including rural areas.