Bus harassment-fighting startup wants to expand to 8 states

Victims of sexual harassment in Fortaleza (CE) have been able to report cases since 2019 through the Super Ninaa startup that gathers data on sexual harassment. The capital of Ceará was the first to use the tool, which was created in 2018, in Recife (PE).

The technology developed by Super Nina is incorporated into the official application of Fortaleza City Hall, Meu Ônibus, which provides bus schedules. The city is the only one that has these services available.

By 2026, the company wants to reach 8 states, with B2G and B2B clients. The list includes Pará, Pernambuco, Bahia, Goiás, Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, as well as Ceará and Paraíba.

The solution is not limited to reporting incidents of harassment recorded on public transport. The founder and CEO of Super Nina, Simony Cesarsaid to the Poder360 that the tool also records cases that occurred at terminals and bus stops. Based on the complaint, the tool guides the victim to file a police report.

According to the CEO, registering with Nina is important to obtain images of the assault more quickly, in case the victim did not photograph or film the act of sexual harassment. If there was information about the bus line number on which the harassment occurred, for example, the startup can capture the video of the moment of the harassment.

“Once the complaint is made and the person who reported it provides the bus number, Sindiônibus will be notified immediately. [Sindicato das Empresas de Transporte de Passageiros do Estado do Ceará], who will have 72 hours to crop 1 hour of image. If the victim made the complaint at 8:30 am, for example, [o sindicato] will make a cut from 8am to 9am”stated to the Poder360.

Simony says that the victim can record the sexual harassment episode even if she did not write down the bus number. In this case, however, it will not be possible to capture images from the bus’s security cameras.

The victim can also upload photos and videos to Super Nina to support the complaint. If the act did not occur on the bus, the person can report the bus station or stop where the incident occurred.

In addition to providing support to victims, Super Nina also helps the government create new solutions to combat harassment and other social problems. The data from reports is forwarded to the responsible government agencies, respecting the LGPD (General Law on the Protection of Personal Data).

Using data from victims, Super Nina can map, for example, which city lines have the highest number of sexual assaults, whether the bus stop where the sexual assault was reported is on a street with poor street lighting, among other issues. To achieve this monitoring, the startup uses artificial intelligence.

“When we cross-reference this data with data on public lighting, desertification or area saturation, we can equip the government to take preventive action. It is easier to identify that an area is experiencing a high incidence of sexual harassment and harassment due to lighting issues than to send a patrol car that will leave and the problem will return.”says Simony.

Read the public policies adopted in Fortaleza after Nina:

• flexibility of the night stop;
• immediate action protocol;
• monitoring research;
• lighting and installation of cameras at stopping points.

Expansion

Simony said that the process of implementing Super Nina in Paraíba is already advanced, but the date for when the service will be available to the population has not been defined. From the date of the signed contract, there is a period of 6 to 9 months for the service to be fully available to passengers.

Because it is an exclusive solution, there is no need for a bidding process to acquire Nina. According to Simony, the startup charges a monthly fee based on the bus fleet and an annual fee for data consulting.

In 18 months, Nina registered more than 3,000 complaints, but only 10% resulted in police investigations. More than 77% of the victims were women.

Most (60%) of the cases occurred on buses. Another 23% were recorded at bus stops, while 17% were recorded at terminals.

History

The daughter of a bus fare collector, Simony says that violence in urban mobility is a topic she has been dealing with since childhood. During college, the businesswoman interned at a bus company, where she learned about the logistics of administration and traffic.

Violence on public transport became the subject of Simony’s academic research, which later resulted in the creation of Nina. The name was chosen in honor of the singer Nina Simone, who was active in the fight for civil rights for black people in the United States.

The startup receives funding from CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development). In total, the company has already received R$1 million from the board to invest in research.

Nina’s X-ray

• founder: Simony Cesar;
• foundation: 2018;
• thirst: Recife (PE);
• number of employees: 6;
• 2023 revenue: R$ 400 thousand;
• contact:
• tax regime: microenterprise.