Soteria

Inspiration

In the United States, women are disproportionately affected by sexual violence. According to the Office of Justice Programs, 91% of reported victims are female. According to a report by the WHO, 840 million globally have experienced some sort of sexual harassment. These numbers highlight the harsh reality that personal safety is a daily concern for millions of women. We wanted to build a tool that doesn't just react to danger, but actively helps women feel safer and more supported in public spaces.

What it does

Soteria creates trusted Safe Circles that allow users to temporarily share their location with selected friends or family. In case of danger, a one-tap SOS feature instantly alerts the safe circle and can assist in contacting authorities. The app also includes a check-in, prompting friends to verify a user's safety after a set period of time, and safe-spot navigation that guides users to nearby secure locations. To improve accessibility, Soteria features an AI chatbot that helps users navigate the app and activate safety features through simple conversation. This increases accessibility of the app as people who lack technical knowledge can still interact with the chatbot to avail services.

How we built it

We built Soteria using React Native for the frontend and Firebase for authentication and database management. The AI chatbot is powered by the Google Gemini API, while Google Maps API enables real-time mapping and safe-location routing. The app was deployed using Expo Go for rapid testing and iteration.

Challenges we ran into

The biggest challenge was integrating multiple systems: frontend UI, backend services, real-time location features, and the AI chatbot-within a tight timeframe. Since both the frontend and backend were built using JavaScript, we were able to streamline integration and resolve issues efficiently.

Accomplishments we're proud of

We successfully built a full-stack safety application in under 24 hours. More importantly, we tackled a real-world issue that directly impacts women's lives, creating a tool designed to increase confidence, awareness, and safety in public environments.

What we learned

This project strengthened our skills in JavaScript and TypeScript, mobile app deployment, and full-stack development. We gained hands-on experience using Firebase for authentication and databases, integrated Google Gemini for the first time, and learned that many factors need to be considered to keep women safe.