Being a woman is hard enough but even worse being a Kenyan woman is a whole other experience. We are living in times where women constantly have to advocate for their rights and in every possible way because wherever we go we don’t feel safe. Another place you’d think women would get a break from phone call/SMS harassment would be on their phones however TrueCaller has noted that over the years the company has received a number of complaints on the issue of harassment through calls and messages. The campaign is quite timely since recently certain influential men were on the spot for creating light banter about a woman who was thrown off a balcony because she refused the man’s sexual advances. TrueCaller insights show the impact. According to TrueCaller insights it showed that 1 in 5 women received sexual or inappropriate calls but only 2 out of 10 women have said to have taken any action against harassers. The women stated that even when they reported to the authorities it was of little help and a 6% dismal chance of action being taken. According to Truecaller, today, over 1 million women in Kenya use Truecaller as their first line of defence against calls and SMS based harassment. As part of this edition of the campaign, the company has taken up print publications and outdoor sites to spread the message. The primary objective of the campaign, the company says, is to get more women to report such harassment, that occurs through phone calls and SMS, to the right authorities without any fear. The company shares that their website: www.truecaller.com/itsnotok-ke has been the resource centre over the last few years and has a wealth of information including the full report, resources on what action women can take along with real and unscripted interviews of real women from across the world who faced such harassment and want to tell their stories. Truecaller has been present in Kenya and across the world for over 10 years now. They say that their commitment to technological innovation and bringing technology to the masses is reflected in the over 270 million active users who use their platform.
