Where would a good prostitute be without her (or his) signature platform shoes? In trouble, that's where. The Aphrodite projects has taken steps to protect street-walkers with Platforms. The shoes have a built in audible alarm to scare off attackers, and when the alarm is triggered, the prostitute's position is transmitted to either the police (in places where prostitution is legal) or to sex worker's rights groups.
The GPS unit uses APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System) a system which uses amateur radio frequencies to send data, which, ironically, was first developed at the United States Naval Academy (all the nice girls love a sailor).
The shoes are a concept right now, albeit a working one, and can be tried out at the Gallery Aferro in Newark, New Jersey in September (15th, 22nd, and 29th). Mens and women's sizes will be available, and orders will be taken for custom builds.
Us? We're just waiting for the GPS/Google Maps mashup to help with our kerb-crawling habit.
Product page [Aphrodite Project via Neatorama]
By Charlie Sorrel August 24, 2007 | 7:08:11 AMCategories: Apparel, GPS

LISA THOMSPON (anti-trafficking rep. for the Salvation Army in the US) writes:
Underlying this article is a very fundamental truth: prostitution is inherently violent. I hardly think a pair of "alarm shoes" is going to change that. The article I just circulated about Ipswich discussed the murder of 5 women in prostitution. God only knows how many other women in prostitution have tragically met the same fate. Brothel rooms with panic buttons, alarm shoes -- they speak to the same thing -- prostitution is an institution where males feel that money gives license to their violence.

Abolition!