New delhi: A new app to protect women, who are being threatened with physical violence or trolled on social media, is in the offing. Women internet users encountering such threats will soon be able to seek help from ‘I am Trolled’ app to be launched by the government, Union Minister Maneka Gandhi said on Friday.
“The app will be launched soon to counter physical violence threats and trolls on social media. It is unfortunate to see that women are equally abusive on social media as men,” she said on the sidelines of an event “Wellness Rules-Proactive Well Being,” organised by FICCI Ladies Organisation in the capital.
“The much-delayed ‘panic button’ for women with additional feature of ‘Shouting App’ will also become operational by March-end as most mobile hardware companies are working to add the feature on their products,” the Minister for Women and Child Development added.
Her ministry is also planning to add 600 new one-stop help centres “Sakhi” in two years wherein women can seek help on domestic violence, health and legal issues etc.
“We are also going to set up ‘Women Entrepreneurship Council’ and tied up with e-commerce platform Amazon for its online portal “Mahila-e-Haat”, wherein women get a platform to market their homemade products from home,” the minister said.
The government’s initiative comes at a crucial time, apparently prompted by a huge political uproar at Ramjas College over the Facebook post of 20-year-old Gurmehar Kaur against BJP-linked student outfit ABVP over campus violence.
The Delhi University girl had been trolled relentlessly since she posted a profile picture holding up a placard saying: “I am a student from Delhi University. I am not afraid of ABVP. I am not alone. Every student of India is with me. #StudentsAgainstABVP”. She also complained about death and rape threats.
Her post followed clashes last week at the Ramjas College over Jawaharlal Nehru University student Umar Khalid being invited to a literary event. The invite was cancelled after ABVP activists allegedly barged in and vandalized the college, shouting protests against Umar Khalid, who was accused of sedition last year.
IANS