[Nadya]

>She looked at him angrily, and wondered why she should be doing that. It's all about giving women something else to buy, another way to protect themselves.

I wish I could look at her angrily. Her solution, after being angry with the cop about "giving women something else to buy, another way to protect themselves" was to create something for women to buy so they have another way to protect themselves. The hypocrisy is astounding.

[myasmine]

Yes, I can see that and I wish it wasn't phrased in that way. That overall idea isn't to give women something else to buy. It's to change societal views by educating young boys and girls about consent, respect, healthy relationships which have been proven to increase empathy and decrease aggression. The wearable is a piece of that - and we think it's a much better solution to pepper spray and other devices which are focused on hurting someone. This tries to buy time, get help from family and friends (which are more likely to be close to you) and call the authorities to quickly get help. We believe that we're not successful until there's no longer a need for these type of products. Thank you for your comment, Nadya.

[zucchini]

This product is exactly the kind of thing I want when I'm walking around in the city at night. I actually own a plethora of personal safety devices-- 3 kinds of mini mace, and a keychain shaped like a cat with pointy ears. I still don't feel totally comfortable. A device that can make bright flashes of light and loud noises would be invaluable, PLUS alerting my friends/fiance where I am.

[Nadya]

I must live in a different society than you. I see no issues with children understanding consent, respect for each others' bodies, and empathy. In fact - the society I live in actively punishes those who do not follow this code of conduct. We place them in prisons and have them sign a registry as a "sex offender" where that knowledge is made public and they never live it down for the rest of their lives. We treat sex offenders, in many cases, as worse than murderers.

But that doesn't prevent people who do not wish to follow this code of conduct from breaking the code of conduct. Education about theft and robbery does not prevent theft and robbery. These individuals do not care about "the rules". They care about themselves - and not others. Asking them to kindly stop robbing your store isn't going to get them to return the items they stole.

How does this device buy time? That isn't explained and I don't see how it could. Are you counting the few seconds before the criminal smashes the alarming/lighting device as "buying time"?

It could get help from family/friends, but this is assuming you aren't out alone. I imagine most crimes happen "while walking home alone" rather than "walking with my group of friends/family". Ignoring that statistically, most sexual offenses come from someone a person knows well, ie: a close friend or family member who might even be their emergency contact to begin with.

Authorities...quickly get help? I can order a pizza and call the police about a B&E and the pizza will get to my house first. You'd have to fix response times - police arriving to the scene of a crime after the crime has been committed isn't going to prevent the crime and in many places, the police have terrible response times.

The idea of mace, pistols, self-defense courses, etc. Are to prevent the woman from being raped. Not responding with help after she was raped. I feel like that concept is being ignored. I'm much more interested in a device that would prevent a rape rather than respond to one after it has happened.

>We believe that we're not successful until there's no longer a need for these type of products.

Society will always need these type of products because there will always be those in society who do not wish to follow the same code of conduct as the rest of society. Until society has a crime rate of 0% (government brain washing has been a success!) we will need these devices.

[jasocox]

Agreed. It's not like there is "something else to buy" that actually helps..