SMS Technology Makes Streets Safer for Women

Zero tolerance for sexual harassment: that is the goal HarassMap is aiming for in Egypt’s public spaces. The group uses the online reporting and mapping technologies Frontline SMS and Ushahidi to anonymously document instances of harassment. Armed with the resulting HarassMap, in which each site of harassment is marked in red and linked to a full report, trained volunteers campaign monthly in local communities to mobilize residents to stop this widespread problem.

Launched in 2010 and now operating under the umbrella of Nahdet El-Mahrousa, the project enables victims and witnesses to use their cell phones to publicize the once-taboo issue; the map in turn helps local communities see that harassment is a common experience for all Egyptian women, thus breaking stereotypes about who gets harassed.

80 percent of people spoken to agree to take an active stand against it, and are then given stickers declaring “harassment free zone” to put up in their shops, kiosks and buildings.

For more info – HarassMap