When a woman was raped in the apartment complex where Rebecca Pick lived, the Strathclyde University student felt scared – and angry. The victim had screamed for help but failed to attract the attention of passers-by.

“It was terrible,” says Rebecca, 22, who has recently graduated in marketing and enterprise. “I thought then that we should have some way of being certain that we can get a response.”

So, while studying for her finals, Pick came up with the idea of a simple electronic device that uses a mobile phone to alert police to the exact spot of an ongoing attack. It also turns the phone into a recording device that gathers evidence for later use in court.



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The Personal Guardian, which measures 6cm by 3.5cm and weighs 40 grams, can be attached to a bra strap, belt or other piece of clothing. To activate it, the wearer simply presses the two buttons on either side of the device, which activates their mobile phone. This in turn triggers a call to a monitoring station, where staff will listen to the live recording to hear if an attack is taking place. They will then direct police to the exact location via GPS.

While the attack in her apartment complex spurred Pick into action, as an undergraduate she had long been convinced of the need for a security device for female students. The idea crystalised during a stint of work experience at a security company, where she saw how specialist staff authenticated house alarms which had been activated.

A recent survey indicated that one-third of female students in Britain had experienced either a sexual assault or unwanted advances while at university. Colleges have recently been criticised for not taking rape and sexual assault complaints seriously enough.



Pick’s device originally had one major button but she switched to two, both pressed together, to cut down on false alarms. If the device is activated accidentally, staff at the monitoring station should be able to tell.

Says Pick: “They can tell the difference if you are laughing and giggling or if you are screaming, or if there is a difference in your breathing, like a panic. Once they have authenticated that, they will know it is a real application. They will then give the police all of the information, your GPS location and then the police will be alerted.” A list of friends or family can also be notified that the alarm has been activated.

The device is connected to the phone via Bluetooth. The monitoring centre has software that can isolate and magnify specific sounds so they can judge whether there is a scuffle or a conflict, even if the phone is in a bag or pocket. Where problems arise is if the mobile phone runs out of battery or is out of a 25-metre range.

Pick secured £60,000 of investment from angel syndicate Gabriel Investments and has produced a 3D-printed prototype. The final product will be neutrally coloured, so it won’t show under clothing. Trials are expected to take place before its October launch.

Talks are underway with monitoring stations to provide the service, which will also be available on mainland Europe. The creator envisages a profit by the third year for her company Pick Protection.

The device will be free but users will have to pay a £5-£10 monthly charge for the monitoring station service. Although a focus solely on the corporate market would probably prove more lucrative, Pick says her aim has always been to help young women protect themselves, and will thus be targeting university students. She is also pitching the device at companies with workers who operate alone, such as security guards.

“I’d like to think that it would be part of your morning routine – before you go out, you put it on and it just stays with you every day,” she says.



“Generally, everyone knows someone who has had something happen to them. You don’t have to look very far.”







Attacks at universities

Research indicates that more than one-third of women have suffered from unwanted advances at British universities. A Guardian investigation found that fewer than half of the universities in the Russell Group – which is made up of 24 high profile institutions – record all allegations of rapes, sexual assault and sexual harassment reported to them. After the report, scores of students reported allegations of sexual violence at university towns, where Rape Crisis groups say there is a “hit-or-miss” approach to dealing with sexual violence. The universities said they invest heavily in services to support students.

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