智能设备轻松防狼
There are a growing number of gadgets and apps on the market which aim to help keep women safe from sexual harassment and attack.
市面上有很多的工具和app都是用来帮助保护女性安全,免受性骚扰和性侵害。
But are they effective or could they merely reinforce the image of women as victims?
但它们真的有效果吗,又或者它们只是更加凸显了女性的受害者形象?
It was five o'clock in the morning.
时间是早上的五点钟。
Alexandra Ceranek was cycling through "a lonely industrial area" on her way to work as usual.
亚力山卓.赛瑞内克像往常一样骑着骑行车穿越一个独立的工业区。
"I'm a saleswoman and I have to start my work very early in the morning," says the 48-year-old from Oberhausen, Germany.
“我是个生意女性,我很早就得去工作,”这位来自德国奥伯豪森的48岁的女士说。
"Two men were standing there," she recalls.
“当时有两个男人站在那边,”她回忆道。
As she cycled past, one of them attacked her, grabbing her backpack and pulling her down off the bike and onto the ground.
在她骑车经过的时候,其中一个袭击了她,抓住了她的背包,把她从自行车上拽到了地上。
As she lay there in terror expecting a sexual assault, she kept saying to herself: "Pull the cord, Alex! You have to pull the cord!"
当她恐慌地躺在地上,担心受到性侵的时候,她不断对自己说:“Alex,拉绳子!你该拉绳子了!”
She was wearing a pair of undershorts that incorporated an alarm activated by pulling on cut resistant cords made from the same material as bullet proof vests.
她当时穿的短裤里面包含着一个警报器,可以由拉紧防切断的绳子来激活,而绳子是由与防弹背心相同的材料制成的。
"My heart was beating wildly, but I managed to pull the cord and set off the alarm," she says.
“当时我的心跳得飞快,但我还是顺利拉了绳子,开启了警报器,”她说。
"It made such a loud noise the two men ran away."
“警报器的声音非常大以至于这两个男人都吓跑了。”
These Safe Shorts incorporate a lock and alarm that also activates when someone tries to remove the garment by force.
这种安全短裤安装有一个锁和警报器,在当有人试图用外力移除它的时候也会被激活。
Safe Shorts founder Sandra Seilz says her own experience prompted her to develop the product.
安全短裤的发明人桑德拉.西尔兹说是她自己的亲身经历激发她研发出了这款产品。
Returning from a run she was accosted by three men, she says, one of whom tried to pull off her leggings while the other held her down.
当她跑步回来的时候有三个男人向她搭讪,她说,有两个人把她按倒在地,而第三个人试图拉下她的紧身裤。
"You can imagine what the intention of the third man was," says Ms Seilz.
“可以试想这第三个男人不怀好心。”西尔兹女士说。
"But I was lucky. A man set his dog on them and the three men ran away."
“但我很幸运。有一个男人放狗跑过来,这三人都跑掉了。”
Assaults such as these are all too common for many women around the world, prompting many companies to come up with personal gadgets aimed at warding off attacks and alerting others.
类似这样的性侵案件在世界各地都太普遍了,也使得很多的公司研发出一些个人工具用来避开袭击,警告他人。
"Vendors usually come from a crowdfunding background typically with very similar product functionality," says Rishi Kaul, a research analyst for consultancy Ovum.
“供应商通常来自于具有集资背景,并拥有相似功能的产品”,瑞希.考尔说,她是咨询公司Ovum的分析研究员。
"You click a button on the device and your GPS location is sent to preselected contacts, sometimes with an accompanying siren."
“你可以按下装备上的按钮,这样你的GPS地址就会被发送给之前设置好的联系人,有时候还会伴随警笛声。”
For example, Safer, developed by Indian start-up Leaf Wearables, sells a pendant that doubles as a panic button.
比如说,Safer,由印度的Leaf Wearable公司研发,就出售一种同时可以作为紧急按钮的吊坠。
It is controlled by an accompanying smartphone app.
它是由一款相应的智能手机app控制的。
Tanya Gaffney, 24, found it useful when walking to meet a friend in New Delhi, India, one evening.
来自印度的24岁的唐娅.加芙妮有一天傍晚走路去见新德里的一个朋友时就发现它派上了用场。
"I felt someone walking behind me and it just felt suspicious. Every lane I turned into he took the same turn which made me panic," recalls Ms Gaffney.
“我感觉到有人走在我背后,非常可疑。我每走进一条巷子他也跟着走一样的,这让我开始恐慌。”嘉芙妮回忆道。
"I was hoping to find a female figure or cop."
But nobody was around.
“我试图找到一个女性或者警察。”但周围没有人。
She sent an alert to her chosen group of "guardians" - her parents and two close friends - by pressing the back of her smart pendant twice.
她向之前选择好的“保护者”群体—她的父母和两个好友—发送了警报,采用的是在她的智能吊坠背后按两下的方式。
"Luckily, the first person to call me was my friend who I was on my way to meet at the market. He told me he was tracking me via GPS and that he was on his way to get me," she says.
“幸运的是,第一个给我打电话的就是我准备去市场见的那个朋友。他告诉我他通过GPS追踪到了我,正准备过来接我。”她说。
The man following her eventually took a different turn, but "the feeling of panic still terrorises me to this day," she says.
跟踪她的男人最后从不同的方向走掉了,但“那种恐慌的感觉至今让我感到后怕,”她说。
Similarly, Nimb is a smart ring incorporating a panic button that sends an alert and your location to chosen recipients.
类似的,Nimb是一款智能戒指,它安装了一个紧急按钮可以发送警报和你的位置给指定的接收人。
The alert can also be forwarded to the emergency services.
这种警报也可以被发送给治安中心。
Nimb co-founder Kathy Roma was also a victim of crime 17 years ago.
Nimb的联合成立者凯西.罗玛17年前也是一名犯罪的受害人。
A man tried to strike up a conversation with her and stabbed her in the stomach when she didn't reply.
有一个男子试图与她搭话,她没有回应就被对方朝她的腹部捅去。
Seriously wounded, she looked for help in a nearby building.
在受重伤后,她到附近的建筑里寻求帮助。
She believes having a personal alert device would have brought help sooner.
她认为如果有一个个人警报设备她就能更快获得帮助。
Other devices include Revolar, which enables users to "check in" and let loved ones or friends know you've arrived home safely with a single click.
其他的设备还包括Revolar,可以让用户“报到”,轻轻一按就可以让你的爱人和朋友们知道你安全抵达了家里。
Three clicks sends a "help" alert.
而连按三下则可以发出“求救”警报。
And at the more sophisticated end of the market, Occly has developed Blinc, a wearable security device that includes a "bodycam" to record video evidence of an attack, as well as setting off a siren, flashing lights and a call for help.
作为市场上最复杂的装备,Occly开发的Blinc,是一种可穿戴的安全设备,它包括有“随身摄像头”可以拍下攻击的录像证据,还可以发出警笛,闪光和打电话来求助。
According to the World Health Organisation, about one in three women have experienced some form of assault, whether physical, sexual or both.
根据世界卫生组织统计,每三名女士中就有一人曾经历过某种形式的骚扰,无论是身体上的,性方面或者两者都有。And nearly two-fifths of murders of women are perpetrated by their partners.
而大约五分之二的女性谋杀犯都有作案的同伴。
These safety gadgets have obviously helped some women avert disaster, but not everyone is convinced of their merits.
这种安全设备很明显可以帮助一些女性免于受害,不过并不是所有人都认为它们有作用。
"We welcome anything that can be used to improve safety and help prevent sexual violence," says Fay Maxted OBE, chief executive of The Survivors Trust, an umbrella agency for 130 rape and sexual abuse support services across the UK.
“我们鼓励各种能够提高安全性防止性犯罪的装备,”费.麦克斯提勋爵说,他是“幸存者的信任”的首席执行官,这个组织在全英国下属有130个强暴和性暴力受害人支持服务中心。
"But such technology can also be misused - it can be hacked or used by perpetrators to track or stalk someone," she warns.
“但这种技术也可能被误用—它可能会被黑客入侵,或者被罪犯用来追踪或者跟踪某人,”她提醒道。
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