Malalai App

Gabriel Leão in her October 22^nd article, “This app aims to help keep women safe in public”, interviews the creator of the Malalai app. Due to extremely high rates of rape specifically in places such as Brazil, Priscila Gama is taking advantage of media by creating an app that allows a women’s friends and family to be able to easily track her location in any transportation method she is in. As Leão comments on in her piece, the inspiration for the Malalai app came from a 2015 hashtag #myfirstharssment. Gama’s reaction to the hashtag demonstrates the strong influence the media can have in addition to the power such outlets have on spreading a message. Gama was inspired by the media hashtag that focuses on sexual assaults and in return continued to use technology to severe women’s rights. The app is a simple and secure way to help prevent women get out of emergency situations. I think it is important to acknowledge how Gama was inspired to create her app, through the media, to draw attention to the immense power hashtags can hold and to continue to use the media as a vehicle for activism and awareness.