Women can now report harassment without being identified

A new mobile app ‘Vegu’ will now provide the much needed anonymity to women who face sexual harassment at workplace but find it hard to report it out of fear of being exposed.

Useful tool

The app, designed by Mihir Mobile Solutions (MMS), will allow the complainant to report the problem without getting identified. The tool can be used to report any form of harassment to the HR Department or members of the Internal Complaints Committee of the organisation.

After receiving an overwhelming response for a similar app ‘Eye School’ introduced in the U.S. to place a check on aggressive behaviour of students in schools, Jani Nemana, founder and CEO of MMS, came up with ‘Vegu’ (spy).

At the core of the solution is the patented technology which masks the sender’s details before forwarding it to the authorities. “It took three months to design the tool. Employees can now register complaints through the platform by submitting text or pictures, audio or video clippings or a combination of all the four,” he said.

Safer workplace

Once the complaint is lodged, it will be forwarded to the HR Department of the organisation for action. “Working women will think more seriously about complaining as their identity is well protected. Similarly, colleagues or employers indulging in gender harassment will also think twice. However, care should be taken that the tool is not misused,” professors of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar College of Law, Andhra University, S. Sumitra and V. Rajyalakshmi, said at the app launch here on Saturday.

Legal adviser of MMS Sridevi Nemana, Assistant Executive Engineer of Panchayat Raj P.V. Shakti Kumari and Managing Director of Patra India BPO Services Ltd. Lakshmi Mukkavilli termed the app a smart method to provide safer work environment.

The cloud-based app is available for Android and iOS-based mobile phones.