A new smart jewelry device called Athena is being designed to help women stay safe by giving them the ability to sound an extremely loud alarm and text their location to their close friends and family, according to PhillyVoice. The device, developed by a Temple graduate, contains a button that must be held down for three seconds in order to activate.
"We built this device to help save lives," said Yasmine Mustafa, co-founder of ROAR For Good, the company developing the project. They plan to raise $40,000 through Indiegogo to continue developing the product and are aiming for a spring release date; they have already raised a little more than $37,000.
The Athena can be easily clipped onto any necklace, belt or purse, giving the wearer the ability to easily reach the button. ROAR For Good is also looking at integrating a silent mode into the product to allow the text messages to be sent out without sounding the alarm, according to Gizmag.
Mustafa says that she founded the company after travelling to South America and meeting women who were victims of sexual assault, according to Digital Trends.
"We don't want to just put a Band-Aid on the problem. We want to get to the root cause of violence against women," she said. "When those in power challenge the perpetrators of disrespect, would-have-been victims can be protected. When bystanders intervene, other secondary voices will often follow and join in, opening the eyes of a population. We cannot ignore this issue and hope that it goes away."
