Blockchain in India is finding a novel purpose as a new app called Smashboard seeks to help victims of physical abuse, who want to disclose their offenders’ names; however, struggle to maintain their privacy.
The #MeToo movement in India not only brought many public offenders out in the open but also revealed the identities of their victims. Many sexual abuse victims choose not to publicize their identity, and in today’s age, it can get really tricky considering privacy and internet as two sides of a coin.
That being said, the new Smashboard app is trying its best to address these obstacles and turned to blockchain to help the survivors of physical abuse, irrespective of the gender and location. Founded by a journalist, Noopur Tiwari, this app aims to lessen the burden of sexual assault victims by simplifying the otherwise traumatic experience of reporting the crime. The platform features timestamped journal and registered medical and legal practitioners who can assist the survivors in their journey to recovery and finding justice.
Blockchain in India expanding its reach
From finding the right kind of ally for victims, mainly belonging to families with a vast network, to reducing the burden of repeating the timelines of the crime to every new lawyer or medical practitioner, it appears that blockchain can go a long way in supporting these victims.
According to Tiwari, getting help can put victims’ privacy at risk. What blockchain does is offer a platform to create private and encrypted records of these assaults. Although the platform is still in its development stage, purely operating on self-funding, it will eventually seek crowdfunding to raise money as well as awareness. The focus will be on creating a safe and robust environment for assault victims, she asserted.
Tiwari claims that the Smashboard app will empower victims with a degree of pseudo-anonymity as they can share their experience from the comfort of their homes, even before they feel the need to consult a lawyer or journalist. The technology will help them to make an ineradicable record of timestamps of the actual crime so that they don’t have to go through it over and over again when reporting it to multiple individuals.
Revealing the ethical side of crypto
Taking the blockchain technology’s real-world use cases a step further, Tiwari is hopeful that the Indian government legalizes the use of cryptocurrencies in the future so that her project Smashboard, can use the blockchain to develop its own cryptocurrency called SMASH. Essentially, the crypto will be used to raise funds feminist campaigns, thus bringing forward an ethical side of the crypto world.
Although SMASH may seem like a far-fetched dream at this moment, the app is undoubtedly gaining some traction as it not only empowers and enlightens the victims with meaningful information and articles but also assists them in bringing their culprits out in the open, all in the form of encryption over a secure server.
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