POWA App Wants To Tackle Women Abuse But Will It Work?

People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA), a South African women’s right organisation, has released an app that is intended to help victims of abuse speak up and find help.

The App is now available for free on all Android and Apple smartphones and was launched in association with Vodacom, and backed by the social development and police departments.

How the app works
The welcome page of the app offers users a directory of numbers, a list of service points and their numbers and most notably an “Around Me” option, this option helps users find the correct place, within their proximity, where they can get help and report an incident.

The app also comes with a panic button which when pushed will see the victim instantly contact a pre-programmed number. When using the app to report incidents, certain details are required such as the victim’s name, contact details, and a description of the incident. Additionally, there is also the option of including images of the attack. The app will also automatically pick up the location of the incident. Once the incident has been logged, a social worker will contact the victim to provide shelter if needed.

Will it actually work?
Dr. Sherianne Kramer, the chair of the Psychological Society of South Africa Division for Research and Methodology and lecturer at Wits University, believes that: “The development of an app for victims of gender-based violence is both progressive and ground-breaking. Most victims of violence fail to report the incident due to a number of issues. These issues include lack of access to resources and lack of knowledge regarding how to report, and to whom.”

The app is aimed at tackling these exact issues and give users a platform where they can get help in a dignified and simple manner.

Dr Kramer continued by saying that: “The POWA app targets all of these issues. It allows under-resourced victims to access information regarding reporting practices and victim assistance. The anonymity function also allows victims to report without being identified, thus targeting issues related to under-reporting as a result of shame and stigma. The app is also really useful for children and teenagers who might be in comprising domestic circumstances, but are unable to leave their home to access help. It will additionally assist victims who have thus far not been able to come forward due to the gendered structure of our policing systems.”

As the Chair of the Psychological Society of South Africa Division for Research and Methodology, she also pointed out how the app could help provide the relevant authorities with “much-needed data that will certainly expose much more realistic rates of gender-based violence than the current South African data which is based on patterns of under-reporting.”

“It is likely that victims of violence will find comfort in the app, and particularly in its ability to retain victim anonymity. POWA should be commended for its progressive innovation and hopefully this app will inform other future technological advances in violence prevention in South Africa,” she concluded.

By: Dean Workman
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