According to the World Economic Forum, Pakistan ranks very low in the Gender Gap Index. To address this, three people came together to create an app called Iyzil which can help women and other gender minorities feel safer. Consequently, Qasim Mueen, the founder of the app, along with his co-founders, Syed Furqan Shah and Kashif Mueen used their tech expertise to create an app that could provide safety to its users.

“The name Iyzil is a combination of ‘Iy’ from our parent company Iylus which makes smart IoT (Internet of things) products; 'zil' means shadow in Persian, and alluded to our tagline – ‘fearless companion’ because our phones are often our companions just like our shadows,” explains Sabygha Bazmy, Marketing Lead.

The app launched in August 2021 and so far it has been downloaded over 10,000 times.

“Users can shake the phone, use the volume key, or panic button on the app to be connected to our monitoring team, or up to five of their personal contacts who they have listed as emergency contacts. A woman’s car broke down at the Motorway and she used Iyzil for help. The app tracked her location, and our team put her in touch with the Motorway Police who arrived to help her. Until then, our monitoring team was in contact with her,” says Sabygha.

She adds that the app, which primarily targets working women and students, allows users to mark safe or unsafe routes which can then be shared with others. This feature also applies to safe or unsafe places.

According to Sabygha, the app has been marketed by its in-house team. “We use social media – especially Facebook and Instagram – to advertise.” She adds: “They do not depict extreme violence because we intend to create awareness first. However, we do intend to reach out to influencers and utilise other mediums in the future.”

Mueen shares that he aspires Iyzil to have more features in future, and these include voice recognition and those pertaining to women’s health as well as raising awareness about subjects such as financial management. While Iyzil’s entry into the market can be seen as a way to ensure safety for women, Qasim and Sabygha agree that a lot needs to be done to decrease the need for such products in the first place.

“I feel that we need to create more awareness through conversations and dialogues, especially with the men. I do understand that there will always be a fraction of the population that may not change, but we need to change the dominant narratives,” adds Qasim.

Download the Iyzil app here.

Zoya is a freelance multimedia journalist who writes about culture and socio-political issues and is greatly interested in relationships between public spaces, gender, faith and class. She can be found on Twitter @ZoyaAnwerNaqvi