By Jackie Abramian, Forbes, January 14, 2021
When last April the UN Secretary General called for a global ceasefire on a “horrifying global surge in domestic violence” linked to the pandemic lockdowns, the European Parliament called on its members to increase support for domestic violence victims. The United Nations observed a 25-35 percent rise in the already staggering numbers of domestic abuse cases, and the UN Women report showed helpline calls “increased five-fold” in some countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic. By last September, 48 countries had integrated prevention and response to violence against women and girls into COVID-19 response plans–and 121 countries adopted measures to strengthen services for women survivors of violence, calling for more urgent efforts.
To combat the staggering rise in gender-based violence, technology executive and entrepreneurs, Megs Shah and Fairuz Ahmed joined forces last July with a group of survivors, advocates and technologists to launch The Parasol Cooperative. “Protecting lives through technology” the nonprofit’s developing technology will allow organizations and victims to communicate safely with each other–similar to an enhanced case management capability tailored to organizations supporting victims of violence. The Cooperative will also offer collaborative educational and peer to peer networking services to enhance member organizations’ work by providing safety programs for “vulnerable and under-served populations–especially populations affected by domestic violence.”
In a virtual interview with the New Jersey-based co-founder, Megs Shah detailed her electrical and computer engineering background–most recently as Head of Digital Investment Governance, managing technology initiatives decisions at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Previously her work as a Technology and Management Consulting Executive at Accenture, helped build the business acumen to launch and manage an organization, leading her to product development as senior director of product at Collective[i] and her own digital product startup, Kidhoo. This “intimate familiarity with identifying problems to solve using technology” Shah says, introduced her to New York area’s start-up ecosystem.
Comments (0)