In a country rife with gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), an entrepreneur who has strong links to Tongaat and Verulam, Ahmed Khan, has devised an app that he hopes will help combat the scourge of abuse and the murder of women and children in South Africa.
Set to launch on International Women’s Day, which is celebrated annually on 8 March, the ‘Help Me Please’ app will assist in tackling abuse, GBVF and school bullying among other social ills.
The CEO and Founder of South African Business Council NPC, Platinum ERP, Smart-Citizens and a co-founder of Hunni and Chlo, said being a systems architect, he designed the workflow and functionality of the app. This was followed by the actual development stage which was done internally and completed within three months.
Khan said with the first module that is being launched on Wednesday, 8 March, in the app being ‘Help Me Please’, they are hoping to reduce and eventually stop GBV and bullying in South Africa, the rest of the continent and globally.
He said: “This is a digital platform for anyone to reach out for help whenever they need. They may use ‘Smart-Citizens or Help Me Please’ to log a case against any type of gender-based violence or abuse that they are experiencing. They can also report femicide, bullying in school, LGBTQIA+ abuse, sextortion, senior citizens abuse and animal cruelty. The app can also be used to dial pre-listed emergency contact numbers, dial your next of kin, find the nearest police station, send your real time location to your next of kin, find helpful organisations that are near you and view any upcoming events that are relevant to GBV, countrywide.”
Khan said that the project was only possible with the support of his team to whom he is grateful towards. He said due to the known fact of victims being scared or embarrassed to report a crime that affects them, the ‘Help Me Please’ app is a safe and secure platform that can be used to report abuse from wherever they are and anonymously if they wish.
“The app can be downloaded from the Google Play Store and currently pending approval on the Apple App Store. The ‘Help Me Please’ module is 100% free to use once downloaded and there are no fees for using any of the functionality,” he said.
Smart Citizens Head of Social Media and advisor for special projects, Kashti Jarlim, said she knows that their app will make a great difference to many victims, who are dealing abuse on a daily basis.
She said: “Help Me Please is a free, safe and secure platform for everyone to use and report any type of abuse that they may be experiencing. Gender-based violence (GBV) and bullying has become a massive problem and this app will help prevent and stop these types of crimes.”
This year, International Women’s Day is being celebrated under the theme of “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”
Should anyone require more information or wish to get involved, send an email to helpmeplease@smart-citizens.io, alternative you can look them up via their website www.smart-citizens.io.
