It is no secret that the culture of violence against women in Australia is reaching epidemic proportions. In 2015 alone, 25 women have been killed in situations of domestic violence, and many others have been victims of stalking and assault.
In 2012, it was reported that over half (57 per cent) of women in Australia have experienced some form of sexual violence in their life time. 34 per cent of these women said that their perpetrator was someone that they knew, either a partner or a former partner. In situations of domestic abuse such as this, 73 per cent of the perpetrators were reported to be physically violent, as well.
With statistics such as these, the development of safety apps have become potentially life-saving.
Every woman knows the uneasiness of walking home at night, or entering into an unfamiliar situation, or with an unfamiliar person, but the reality of such situations is that when women are faced with a crisis, it can sometimes be difficult to contact emergency services. Whether the attacker has taken your phone, or you are unable to reach it, the inability to reach out has serious and dangerous consequences.
From apps let your chosen contacts monitor your location, to apps that let you inconspicuously contact emergency services, technology has finally developed a safe way for women to take control of their own safety, regardless of their situation.
Below is The Weekly’s guide to women’s safety apps, and how they can help you.
Circle of 6
How it works: The Circle of 6 is an app that allows you to set up a group of six people to contact in emergency situations. The app has three options, ‘car’, ‘call’, or ‘chat’. If you activate the ‘car’ setting, the app immediately sends a message to your ‘six’, instructing the closest to you to pick you up immediately. The app attaches your address and the time it was sent. The ‘call’ function can be used to contact your ‘six’ if you’re feeling unsafe or uncomfortable, and the ‘chat’ function allows you to message your six for advice or opinions. If the situation is emergent, the app also has an ’emergency’ button, that allows you to immediately call 000.
Kitestring
How it works: Kitestring is an SMS-based service allows you to register a trip, such as a walk home or a date, and then makes sure you ‘check in’ to confirm you’re safe. If you don’t respond to the text message within a certain amount of time, Kitestring sends a ‘distress message’ to your elected contacts.
Watch Over Me
How it works: Watch Over Me works similarly to Kitestring, but it is available in an app. The app allows you to register a trip and ‘watches over you’ until you confirm the trip is complete. You’re able to register some details about the trip, who you are meeting, where you are going, and even photos of who you are meeting. If you don’t check the “I’m Safe” button after your elected time, the app sends a message to your emergency contacts. The apps also alerts you when you are about to enter a dangerous area, and calls 000 if you shake the phone vigorously.
Aspire News
How it works: Aspire News is a safety app disguised as a news app. The app does work as a regular news app, but also contains a ‘help section’ that has information for women in domestic violence situations. If the user is reading about the support lines, and their attacker or abuser is near, they are able to press the ‘exit button’ and the app will take you to a random news story. The app also has an ’emergency function’, with a ‘GO’ button, which, if tapped three times, alerts emergency contacts and sends them your address.
React
How it works: React features a “follow me” function, which, when activated, sends a location marker to your elected contacts so they can follow your trip to safety. It also has a ‘SOS’ function to alert authorities. This app is great for parents to make sure their kids get home from school safely, whilst they’re stuck at work.
bSafe
How it works: bSafe is an all-in-one safety app, which allows you to pick a group of ‘guardians’, that you can contact or go to, if needed, a ‘fake call’ function to get out of compromising situations, and a ‘alert for assistance’ function.
Daisy
How it works: Daisy is an app developed by Rosie Batty, which links to local services and helplines for women in domestic violence situations. The app lists the services, what you can expect when you call them and what their opening hours are. The app also has a ‘quick exit’ function, and allows you to browse the internet for safety services without it appearing in your history. Like all the apps, Daisy has an emergency call button for the authorities and elected contacts.
Guardly
How it works: Guardly allows you to contact groups of people at once, such as friends, family or local authorities via message or email, and also allows you to send your location to contacts so they are able to track you. The app features allows you to call 000 from your lock, without opening the app, and send photos and videos to authorities as evidence.
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