5/30/2023 0 Comments Panic button icon![]() ![]() The project has already caught the attention of officials across Brazil and in neighboring Latin American countries also battling high levels of domestic abuse. “We want to get there as quickly as we can because this person is the target of serious violence,” says officer Jadir Almeida da Silva. So far, officials say, they’ve arrived in under 10 minutes every time. The victim’s location appears on a map, as pictures of the victim and her abuser pop up and the device begins to transit audio so police can hear what’s going on around her. The alert is then sent to the smartphones of four teams trained to respond. When the victim activates it, by holding down a small button for three seconds, a GPS signal is sent and an alarm goes off at the police station handling the panic button project. Women carry it on an elastic belt under their clothes. The device itself is smaller than a mobile phone. The panic buttons have been distributed to women who already have restraining orders against abusers – mostly former partners.Īccording to court officials, the project has also worked as a deterrent for would-be abusers because no one knows who actually has them. ![]() The Center’s figure for the United States is 2.1 women in every 100,000, as of 2007. “Femicides” are overwhelmingly committed inside a woman’s own home, and police and social services say, they are an indicator of wider levels of domestic abuse.Īccording to the Brazilian Center for Latin American Studies, in 2010 13.2 in every 100,000 women were murdered in Vitoria, triple the national average of 4.4, which is already high. It’s no accident the project was developed in Vitoria – the city has the highest female murder rate in Brazil. The authorities say there have already been five convictions thanks to the panic button project, which was launched by the state judicial system earlier this year. Her ex-husband was sentenced to 21 days in jail for violating the restraining order. “The police arrived in four minutes,” she says. One day her ex-husband appeared, shouting at her, from the street below her apartment. Soon after she got it, Jaina Maria was forced to use it. When activated the device emits a GPS signal and automatically starts recording the conversations around the victim – which can later be used in court. One day he pulled out a knife.Īfter that incident, a court decided to issue her with the panic button. Jaina Maria is one of nearly 40 women in the coastal Brazilian city of Vitoria who have been given an innovative mobile “panic button” – part of a pilot project to curb rampant domestic violence.Įven after they divorced and Jaina Maria obtained a restraining order, she says her ex-husband would still show up at the house and threaten her. ![]()
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