UAE students create device to protect children from sexual abuse
A combo image shows the 4 students Sumaya, Marwa, Bashayer, and Shama.
A team of four students from the College of Engineering and Information Technology-Ajman University ranked first in the UAE Hackathon-4.0 in Dubai for inventing a sophisticated device that prevents sexual abuse of children.
Explaining the work mechanism of the device, Shama Hareb, a team member said, “The “Shield” device relies on a smart system that detects attempts of sexual abuse of children through monitoring the rate of vital activity by a smart watch worn by a child.”
She continued, “The system also depends on sensors placed near the sensitive parts of a child’s body, to sound an audio alarm in the event that sexual abuse is detected, in order to deter and scare the harasser.”
Shama further indicated that the device does not only detect sexual abuse attempts, but also captures a picture of the harasser by a hidden camera and sends it directly to the child's parents' phone, along with the child's location.
The idea of innovation came after a study conducted by the four students on sexual abuse in the Arab countries in particular and the world in general, she added.
The study showed that most victims of sexual abuse are children, because of their inability to defend themselves, and because they often fear to inform their parents, so they remain silent.
The team comprised Sumaya Samra, Marwa Al Shuli, Bashayer Al Asfour, and Shama Hareb, who were supervised by Prof. Mostahsan Mir, and Eng. Wesam Shuhaib.
