HERGaurdian: SafeSheRide

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Inspiration

The level of deeply troubles South African women and children endure & also how women have to pay extra amounts for their safety riding with Uber/Bolt.

In the year ending March 2024, more than 5,578 women and 1,656 children were murdered :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}.
Survey data reveals 36% of women have experienced physical or sexual violence at least once, and 24% have faced intimate partner violence :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}.
Kidnapping cases surged to 15,343 reported incidents in 2022–23, with Gauteng—home to Pretoria—accounting for half of these occurrences :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}.
Rape remains shockingly pervasive: police recorded approximately 41,739 reported rapes in 2021/22, translating to a rate of about 72 per 100,000 people :contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}.
These statistics are not just numbers—they're women and children in harm’s way, crying out for new, technology-driven modes of protection. Seeing these realities sparked our drive to build HERGuardian, a lifeline blending AI, FinTech, and cybersecurity.

What it does

Provide Safety Rides for women: this is a female-only rides that provides extra safety procedures like

How we built it

Data & AI pipeline: We sourced open crime datasets—especially GBV, rape, violent crime, and kidnapping statistics—and trained machine learning models to assess real-time risk allowing us to generate smart danger alerts and safer route recommendations.
Ride-sharing ecosystem: Using React Native (or Flutter) + Firebase, we developed a women-only ride service, with in-app tracking, driver profiles vetted for gender, and “Share My Ride” features for emergency visibility.
FinTech integration: A digital wallet accepting SnapScan, mobile money, EFT, and even crypto enabled cashless, secure payments for rides and donations to GBV support shelters.
Cybersecurity & compliance: Biometric sign-in, OTP, and end-to-end encryption secured users; adherence to POPIA maintained privacy standards.
Offline-first design: SOS alerts, location logging, and ride requests are queued when offline and dispatched automatically once connectivity returns.

Challenges we ran into

Data scarcity and quality: Crime and GBV data are often underreported or outdated. We had to interpolate and train the AI with caution, aware of biases and gaps.
Resource constraints: Building AI models, secure infrastructure, and reliable offline functionality within hackathon timelines pushed our team to prioritize MVP-grade features.
implementation of AI: Adding chatbots and the live location feature for our future users (Still in progress)
User context variability: Designing a solution viable both in urban Gauteng and remote rural areas required flexible UI/UX, offline resilience, and careful localization.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

*Building the website *: managing to work together to build the website and also finding ways to add the other features involved in the app/website

What we learned

Data isn’t just statistics—it shapes empathy and informs design. Knowing how prevalent GBV, rape, and kidnapping are in South Africa gave our product urgency and precision.
Technology must be inclusive—not only for high-signal environments, but also offline-ready, remembering that many users may be in low-connectivity areas.
Compliance matters—ensuring alignment with South Africa’s POPIA (Protection of Personal Information Act) reinforced trust and responsibility in data handling.
Interdisciplinary design wins—combining AI-driven hazard prediction, verified women-only ride services, and secure digital payments proved more impactful than single-feature apps.

What's next for HERGaurdian

Partnerships & Impact:
NGOs/shelters for aftercare; universities for trials; municipal safety for lighting/camera data where appropriate.
Corporate sponsorship for ride credits and shelter donations.
Driver Network & Safety Ops:
Expand women-driver onboarding with trusted transport co-ops.
In-app driver safety toolkit (quick SOS, route lock, silent recording).
Sustainability:
Freemium core (SOS, Guardian Mode) + affordable micro-subs.
Pay-per-ride margin, CSR sponsorships, and **donation rails to GBV partners.
Strict “safety over ads”: no third-party ad networks or invasive trackers.

HERGuardian turns phones into *proactive guardians—even when offline. The next steps make it real: pilots, audits, and partnerships that convert features into **safer daily journeys.