These Students From Iqra University Islamabad Just Made An App To Report Sexual Harassment & It’s Time To Speak Up!

In the year 2017, began an international Me Too movement against sexual harassment and sexual assault that provided the survivors, irrespective of gender and race, an opportunity to come forward and confront the offenders. The watershed event triggered a much-needed conversation of how to make the world a safer place for not only women and men but children also. Since then, countering sexual harassment has become an issue of concern that keeps many awake at night both around the globe and in Pakistan. Amidst this, few students from Iqra University Islamabad have taken it upon themselves to fight this social-ill by developing an app called Speak Up where you can report any case of sexual harassment, abuse or assault.

Read: Social Media Is Flooding With #MeToo Stories Of Sexual Harassment

Although in Pakistan, the public naming and shaming of the likes of Khalid Bajwa, Junaid Akram, Faisal Edhi and Ali Zafar, last year, encouraged many to raise their voice against predatory behavior, to our angst, the stigma to some extent is still attached with the survivor and not the offender.

Read: After Meesha Shafi, More Women Share Stories Of Sexual Harassment By Ali Zafar

Given this, people who are even in a position of power or fame, don’t feel safe enough to out their sinners, let alone common citizens who are scared to report such incidents due to social pressure.

So, to not let anything come in the way of this critical social issue being addressed, a group of students from Iqra University Islamabad has taken an initiative named Speak Up with the technical and financial assistance of Pakistan Youth  Change Advocates (PYCA), a national level non-profit organization that promotes development through youth participation.

Speak Up is a mobile phone application that aims to counter sexual harassment in Pakistan by bringing it on the map and ensuring that offenders are reported to the authorities for legal action.

Read: You’re A Certified Sexual Harasser If You Do These 5 Things

How Does The Application Work?

With an easy-to-use interface, Speak Up helps to report sexual harassment anonymously. The application takes information such as the victim’s and offender’s gender, the location of offense and details of the incident (not necessary) to file a case.

Another feature on the application and probably the most important one is the ability to send a distress message to 3 chosen contacts on a single click of a button in case the user feels unsafe at any given location. The application updates the location of offense on a heatmap and the information is then shared with the concerned authorities for action.

Why Does Speak Up Matter?

The dilemma in Pakistan is that there is no law to protect the citizens from sexual harassment. Truth to be told, most of the people in Pakistan are in denial of the existence of sexual harassment. This mentality and approach must be changed! The groping, staring, catcalling, stalking and rapes must be stopped!

Read: #MeToo: New Screenshots Of Junaid Akram’s Inappropriate Chat With A Fan Surface!

As the founding members of Speak Up explain, “The application’s purpose is to give voice to the victims of sexual harassment by reporting anonymously for themselves or on behalf of other victims. This is a global issue which is on the rise in Pakistan and we as a community need to come forward to address this immediately.”

How To Install Speak Up?

The Speak Up application is available for download on Google PlayStore.

So, raise your voice against sexual harassment in Pakistan by downloading the application and sharing it with the people you care about.

Read: #MeToo: Dawn Newspaper’s Veteran Cartoonist Feica Has Been Accused Of Child Molestation