Bengaluru: Madhureeta Anand is a 45-year-old independent filmmaker. 

She is a single parent and has a daughter. 

A few years ago, when she was in Delhi, she was attacked by a few miscreants. That is when she was forced to think about the safety of her grown-up daughter. 

As her daughter turned sixteen, her fears only increased. However, on the positive side, she used these fears creatively as she programmed an app, exclusively for the safety of women. 

She created the ‘Phree App’. Using this app, women and members of the transgender community can mark places as safe. 

 

“When my daughter turned 16 and started going out with her friends regularly, it put the fear of God in me, particularly since I was a single mother. But as an avowed feminist, I never wanted to be a parent who would constantly call my daughter every hour asking for her whereabouts and telling her where she can or cannot go. In fact, whenever my daughter was out with her friends, I would call up the owners of the concerned cafes or restaurants about their presence there,” she says as reported by The Better India. 

But it was not easy for her when she thought  of the idea. 

“The emphasis was on the social and economic implications of such a platform. This is not just about a safety rating. The moment you introduce such ratings, the focus shifts from the survivor of a terrible experience to the unsafe environment itself. It becomes more difficult to engage in ‘victim-blaming’, saying things like ‘these girls were dressed skimpily and were thus harassed’. This narrative becomes less important than a bar or a cafe getting a bad safety rating, which has a direct impact on whether other customers choose to visit the concerned establishment,” the website further adds.