While dime-a-dozen safety apps are now available in India, mostly launched by mobile phone companies and other private groups, the government of India plans to launch a safety app of its own later this month, as an auxiliary service to the existing 181 helpline for women, which was started after the fatal Delhi bus rape. “This new app will also facilitate pre-registering of crimes based on perceived threats,” says Khadijah Faruqui, a women’s rights activist and human rights lawyer who is heading the 181 Helpline.

But even having a male escort is no guarantee against sexual assaults. During the wave of protests in Egypt last year to oust President Mohamed Morsi, women became vulnerable to sexual assault in public places. In India, in December 2012, a young woman was gang-raped on a Delhi bus in the presence of her male friend, who had been beaten up by the rapists. And in Mumbai last year, a young photojournalist was gang-raped in broad daylight, after she was separated from her male colleague outside an abandoned mill. 

The gang rape of the Swiss tourist in Orchha, Madhya Pradesh was front page news in newspapers across the country. The reverberations of the shocking story were felt well outside India’s borders. Even friends from as far away as California, emailed me the story. But while going through the newspaper, it was an inside page that shocked me even more. Under the headline of news about the Nation, there were eight stories. Six of them were about violence against women.