New technology to help keep women safe at night

According to recent statistics from the Office for National Statistics, at some point, most women have felt unsafe walking alone in the streets at night. They might manage to call a friend, share their location with them through WhatsApp, or use other strategies to stay safe.

Sexual harassment against women increased this year. Women in the UK started to develop their methods to feel safer when outside at night.

Since the murders of Sabina Nessa and Sarah Everard, the WalkSafe app became popular. It became the fastest-growing safety app in the country.

The founder of the app Emma Kaye developed the concept after experiencing different types of harassment.

She said that the app is actively working, and they are busy with that. However, she added that she has a bitter-sweet feeling because she wishes it didn’t need to exist. Living in a world where a safety app is necessary does not sound positive, but sadly it exists.

The app will have a new feature coming in 2022, including a live map where your family members and friends can track your route and speak with you in real-time. For now, the app allows you to plan the safest route home by looking at the button that shows you recent crime data. Ms. Kaye said that their app enables people to observe preventive measures in order to avoid crime. 

She said they have crime analysts and senior ex-Metropolitan Police detectives search through and categorize the data into places the person wants to know about. She explained that by looking at the crime marks, women could recognize crime hotspots that allow them to plan safer routes.

Bigger issue

Chief executive at Women’s Aid, Farah Nazeer, believes the technology cannot solve the issue of safety alone. While technology such as safety apps on smartwatches can play an essential role in aiding women to feel safer outside, these interventions are temporary patterns, which ignore the actual trigger of male violence.