Shock Shoes: When Innovation Meets Women’s Safety in India

Siddharth Mandala, the boy who created shock shoes

Every single day, the headlines repeat themselves. A 12-year-old girl raped. A woman assaulted. Another case added to a growing list that society reacts to briefly and then forgets.

According to reports, around 86 women are raped every day in India. These are only the cases that get registered. Countless others never reach the police station, buried under fear, shame, and social pressure. Women’s safety in India remains a crisis that we acknowledge emotionally but rarely address structurally.

Women live with constant caution. Stepping out of the house often feels like a calculated risk: what to wear, where to go, and how late is too late. And almost instinctively, many people believe they already know the solution: women should cover themselves because men will stare. Because men will be men. And somehow, protecting honour becomes a woman’s responsibility.

But if that logic holds, then one question refuses to stay silent. Why was a five-year-old raped? Why was a woman in a burkha assaulted? What exactly was their fault?

The Reality of Women’s Safety in India

Whenever a rape or assault is reported, the narrative follows a familiar pattern. The woman was out late. She should not have gone alone. She dressed inappropriately. She provoked it. These statements circulate faster than justice itself. Over time, outrage fades, cases grow old, and society moves on until the next headline appears.

This cycle reveals a deeper issue. While crimes against women continue, accountability rarely shifts away from the victim. Women’s safety is discussed, debated, and forgotten, but rarely protected with intent.

When Innovation Tries to Intervene

Not everyone chose silence.

Siddharth Mandala believed that awareness alone was not enough. He attempted to create a practical solution for women’s safety, shock-absorbing shoes in 2017, designed to help women defend themselves during an assault. These shoes were also equipped with GPS tracking, allowing real-time location sharing during emergencies.

It was a bold idea. A rare combination of technology, self-defence, and women’s empowerment. Siddharth met investors. He met ministers. For a moment, it seemed like this innovation could change how society approached safety.

And then, he disappeared.

Shock Shoes: A Groundbreaking Safety Innovation

Shock shoes were not about encouraging violence or fear. They were about giving women agency, the ability to protect themselves when systems fail. In a country where women’s safety devices are often limited to helpline numbers and symbolic gestures, this invention represented action.

Yet, despite its potential, the idea failed to gain momentum. It was not discussed enough. It was not supported enough. It quietly faded away.

The question is not what happened to the invention, but why.

Why Are Women’s Safety Innovations Ignored?

We may not know every detail, but the answer feels uncomfortably familiar. Patriarchy.

Whenever innovation challenges the idea that women must silently endure risk, it faces resistance. When solutions attempt to shift power by giving women tools instead of advice, they are often dismissed, ignored, or underfunded.

In a social media age where trends go viral overnight, a life-saving invention failed to trend. That silence speaks volumes.

What Society Needs to Reflect On

As a society, we must ask ourselves difficult questions. Why do we debate women’s clothing more than women’s safety technology? Why do we demand behavioural change from women instead of systemic change from institutions? And why do inventions designed to protect women struggle to survive?

Supporting women’s safety means more than outrage after a tragedy. It means backing innovation, encouraging dialogue, and refusing to normalise silence.

If empowerment is suppressed and protection is ignored, then patriarchy wins again.

And that is something we can no longer afford.