Fashioning the Way Against Violence: An Affordable Bracelet that Reports Violence Cases in Real time

It has been 12 months since the first four teams of the Innovation Program pitched their ideas and won a mentorship programme as well as a grant to kick-off their individual innovative ideas.

One of these winners is the SafeBangle Technologies team which invented a Bracelet that reports violence cases in real time while being fashionable.

This innovative, robust and cheap solution which can be used by the potential victims of assaults, sexual gender-based violence (SGBV) and other forms of injustices to be empowered to call their trusted relatives and loved ones for help to make the world a safer place: whenever a woman is facing a dangerous situation, a button on the bracelet can be pressed, and five people she chose will receive an SOS call and her location.

With the support of this device, SafeBangle Technologies has a vision to see a world that is free of violence in which women and girls can live without fear. As it takes time to sensitize potential perpetrators and work on the root cause, the SafeBangle offers a short-term solution to safeguard women, children and girls while society grapples with, and overcomes rape culture.

To do this, the social enterprise joined other organizations which focus primarily on violence prevention and consequences, focusing on an underserved niche which helps the potential victims of violence call for help once they pre-determine the action.

Milestones for 2022

While 2021 was the year of testing the innovation with real users, anecdotal reactions and feedback to the application and usage of SafeBangle, has all been positive during the testing phase conducted in Kampala with funding from DHRLab. The team has set some milestones for 2022 which include:

1. Integrate the learnings from the prototype phase,
2. Plan for a larger-scale testing phase including rural areas.
3. Set up a mini manufacturing plant to reduce time and cost of production.

Within the next year, SafeBangles Technologies intends to increase the reporting of violence against women cases by 5% and rescue 2500 women through the use of this technology by 2024. The wearable is planned to be distributed at a cost of 80,000 UGX.

1. To learn more about SafeBangle Technologies, find a short interview with the team here
2. Digital Human Rights Lab Innovation Challenge for SafeBangle read more
3. Young Ugandans develop anti-rape bracelet Video on YouTube

Stay tuned and follow SafeBangle on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SafebangleT

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SafeBangle

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/safebangle-technologies/

Website: https://safebangle.org

Email: info@safebangle.org

WhatsApp: +256789822687