Will a wrist-worn rape alarm really help women?
A Wrist-Worn Answer to Sexual Attack? - India Real Time - WSJ
The wrist-borne device, Mr. Sibal said, would, upon the pressing of a button, send a text message to the nearest police station as well as pre-selected family members. A global positioning system within the watch would notify them of the wearer’s coordinates.
Mr. Sibal said the government would come up with a prototype by mid-year and then farm the idea out to companies for production. The government has held initial talks on manufacturing the product with state-run telecom equipment maker ITI Ltd.,(523610.BY), according to the government’s release. ITI’s chairman, K.S. Dhingra, confirmed the discussions to India Real Time: “In case the government decides, we are very much interested to manufacture it.” The watch will be sold in two variants, one for $20, the other for around $50, Mr. Sibal said.
It also will have an inbuilt video that, upon activation, would shoot for 30 minutes, the minister said.
Of course, in an ideal world, long before then, the cavalry would have arrived — in the form of the cops and family to save the day.
But how realistic is that?
Not very, say women’s safety advocates. And the government’s track record in previous electronic innovations isn’t exactly encouraging.
