Development of a Gender Based Violence Emergency Response System

Gender based violence is any form of violence inflicted on a person based on their gender. Gender based violence can happen to anyone, anywhere and anytime. The perpetrators of gender-based violence vary from close family and friends as well as from strangers. Due to the nature of occurrence of gender-based violence, time is key in responding to persons in danger of gender-based violence. Therefore, the main objective of this research was to develop a GIS based system that is effective in responding to a distress call from persons who are in danger of being abused. This research has developed an emergency response system that includes a location-based user distress device that is independent of internet, airtime and phones. When a user of the distress system is in danger, they push a button and a pre-set message is sent with the user’s location that will enable real-time tracking. This emergency response system also includes a web application that helps in capturing the UDD (User Distress Device) user’s information that aids in identifying the user in distress when a text message is sent to the rescuers. It also includes a mapping interface where network analysis is carried out when responding to the distress message from the hardware device. A GIS based database was also developed in this research to help in information storage and updating for future reference in decision-making. This research demonstrates how GIS can be used in responding to gender-based violence in real time and in a short time enough to prevent the actual abuse and victimization of the person in danger.