Female founders making women's safety their business
Last year, a chart showing what women do on a daily basis to avoid being sexually assaulted went viral. The chart was part of Jackson Katz' research and showed the immense disparity between what women and men have to go through. Jackson Katz, an educator and social theorist, was conducting research for his book on gender violence prevention, The Macho Paradox. While collecting data he asked both men and women what they do on a daily basis to avoid being sexually assaulted. Here's what he found:
A chart based on Katz' research
The disparity between these lists shows how many safety measures women have to take on a daily basis to avoid being harassed. In the UK, a report issued by parliament’s Women and Equalities Committee, describes the harassment women had to go through daily as so relentless that it had become normalized.
Cornell University also studied the prevalence of assault. They did a survey on street harassment (in 2014) that looked at whether sexual harassment impacted women's behavior. They found that women "reported changing their clothes, route, job, location and the way they socialized in an effort to avoid assault." It's crazy to think that women have to alter their lives completely to avoid sexual violence instead of society being actively trying to change the statistics and prevent assault.
Here are some female founders that are helping women feel safe:
She's Birdie by Amy & Ali Ferber
A personal safety alarm.
Sisters Amy & Ali came up with the idea for the alarm when their oldest kids went off to college as a way to push back against the gruesome stat that 1 in 5 women in the US is assaulted.
Knockout by Kate Davis
With a quick flip, the flat surface of the ring becomes a sharp, pointed way.
Kate got the idea to start Knockout after feeling unsafe while walking alone in NYC at night. Keys between her fingers weren’t doing the trick, so she came up with the idea of creating special rings to use instead.
Flare by Quinn Fitzgerald & Sara de Zárraga
A bracelet with a button that connects to a mobile app that give you an easy out in an uncomfortable situation.
Quinn & Sara met as students at business school. Although they both had experiences with assault, they realized those were not the only encounters they wish they could have avoided. Whether it was feeling trapped in an uncomfortable situation, being pressured to do something, or being intimidated... Flare was founded to deal with these widespread problems.