There are 130,000 domestic violence cases in Singapore every year, but only 30% of them are reported. And most of those are dismissed in court due to lack of evidence. AWARE, Singapore’s leading gender equality advocacy group, wanted to find a solution.

As Singapore has the highest smartphone penetration in the world, we created the ‘Self’ App. Based on the insight that most physical abuse is accompanied by loud noise, like shouting and screaming.

This app when activated, monitors for a spike in ambient decibel levels and automatically starts recording. It then saves the audio file in a secret folder, to be used later by the victim applying for a protection order.

The app also has an optional facility of automatically sending an SOS, via SMS to a nominated person, a secret folder for storing photographic evidence, information about the nearest police stations, hospitals and help centers, and a safety plan to help avoid further abuse.

Because of its sensitive nature, and to keep it in the right hands – that of women, the app poses as a mirror until it’s unlocked by a secret gesture.

Whilst completely ending domestic abuse is a long way off, the Self App by AWARE has given women something they can fight back with.