By Prudence Minayo
Gender Based Violence is widespread in South Africa. According to a 2021 report by Human Rights Watch (HRW), gender based violence in the country is increasing at an alarming rate making it one of the world’s most unsafe places for women. Every three hours in South Africa, a woman is murdered. It is watching news of the devastating ills perpetrated against women and children that inspired Bohlale Mphahlele to come up with a device that would alert selected friends or authorities when a victim is in danger.
Here is her story as told by WoK.
Alerting Earpiece
The Limpopo native first tried to create the device in primary school but was unsuccessful. Her second attempt was when she was 16 and a student at S. J Van der Merwe Technology High School resulted in a prototype that gained massive recognition.
The Alerting Earpiece tracks victims of gender based violence, and human trafficking. It can also also take photos of perpetrators and send them to connected devices. The innovative device helps alert officers that a victim is in danger and can track the movement of the victim and their exact location.
The device is inserted into the earrings and victims can press a small part on the earpiece and this will activate the camera which can then begin to take photos of the perpetrators.
“The alerting earpiece is an invention that aims to eradicate the chances of gender-based violence, human trafficking and other challenges that we face on a day-to-day basis in regards to crime.
“It helps alert officials when victims face danger. It finds the exact location and tracks the movement of the victim,” Bohlale Mphahlele was quoted by itweb.co.za.
She first exhibited the device at the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists in the Category for Engineering-electronics and embedded systems. She won a trophy and bronze. Eskom Expo is a science fair that allows students to showcase their scientific inventions.
Recognition
Polly Boshielo, a member of Executive Council for Education, congratulated the resourceful teenager and remarked that it was joyful to see that the actions made towards promoting technical schools in the province were paying off.