Safe & The City sexual harassment app is streets ahead
by Startacus Admin
London-based tech startup, Safe & The City, last week launched its personal safety app designed to battle opportunistic crimes and sexual harassment on streets by using GPS technology, crowdsourced information and crime data from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) in London.
The app uses police data to alert users in advance before approaching intersections with a patterned history of crime.
With #MeToo and #TimesUp campaigns sparking conversations across the world about sexual harassment and gender inequality, Canadian-born and London-based entrepreneur – Jillian Kowalchuk – is taking action by introducing an app to tackle sexual harassment and violence against women
Safe & The City enables its users to report incidents based on how safe a route feels to mobilise tangible changes to improve safety on streets. In combining crowdsourced information on underreported experiences, like sexual harassment, with accurate data from the police (such as gun crime, personal property and theft amongst others), this unearths a wealth of invaluable data in a functional, everyday tool capable of making a real impact.
The app, currently available on iOS free of charge (Android soon to follow), features helpful prompts to stay alert before intersections where opportunistic crimes have happened more often as well as a 2-click access to 999 emergency services. After walks are completed, users can quickly rate elements of their walk, such as street lighting, to inform others of conditions and pattern behaviour that may make it better or worse to walk in a particular street at a certain time. In the future, the app will allow to share walks with friends and family to track real-time location and seeking help.
The idea for the app came after CEO and Founder Jillian Kowalchuk experienced sexual harassment herself:
“I put a lot of trust into navigation apps to get me around London, but found navigating only the fastest route wasn’t necessarily the safest. One evening, I was guided down a dark, narrow, empty alley, where two male kitchen staff on break said vulgar acts about what they wanted to do to my body. I ignored them, put on a brave face, but felt scared knowing I was walking where I couldn’t easily escape or seek help.
Their threats turned out to be empty, but I started thinking about younger or more vulnerable persons walking there where the situation could have escalated. With Safe & The City, I want to empower others to have all the information to help them feel and actually be safer”.
The company counts with the support of an experienced advisory board comprised of FindMaps Founder Mariam Crichton, Co-Founder of Aroxo Matt Rogers, former CFO of Deliveroo Phillip Green, and David White, Founder of the pioneering Big Data and AI company, Import.io.
Safe & The City obtained investment from the Geovation, recently received the Unltd award and signed its first safe site member - Huckletree – just before the launch.
Good luck to Jillian and the team - we hope to see this app scale nationwide if at all possible.
Subscribe to our newsletter
If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.
Aiming to improve workflow and increase business productivity, Oroson is an SaaS platform that allows you and your team to manage all your content together, in one handy online place.
Time is ticking to apply to Rising Stars, Tech Nation's new competition to find the UK’s most ambitious early-stage tech startups.
The SaaS startup that helps you "create the buzz you need, for less"...
Why it is important for business leaders to review their inclusivity strategies and how this can benefit their business as a whole.
Applied - The recruitment platform that will help you hire fairer, faster, and retain hires for longer...
Branswer - The lowdown on the startup that will help you write content on brand, every time...
Using satellite imagery, combined with machine learning techniques, AgTech startup CropSafe are on a mission to accurately detect and predict impending diseases within farmers crops.
Hike is an SEO platform built for startups that allows you to optimise your site and content and aimed at saving 75% on annual SEO costs.
The Festival of Female Entrepreneurs, now in its seventh year, is aimed at supporting women to build and grow sustainable businesses.
UK Chancellor Philip Hammond chose his Conservative Party Conference speech to suggest that he wouldn’t wait for an international consensus on digital services taxation.
Published on: 8th March 2018
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.
- Oroson aims to be the content hub to rule them all 18th Oct 2018 Aiming to improve workflow and increase business productivity, Oroson is an SaaS platform that allows you and your team to manage all your content together, in one handy online place.
- Is your startup a rising star? 18th Oct 2018 Time is ticking to apply to Rising Stars, Tech Nation's new competition to find the UK’s most ambitious early-stage tech startups.
- Innovative Electrical Clip hangs on to win INVENT Awards 2018 12th Oct 2018 The INVENT Awards 2018 from Connect at Catalyst Inc, took place in Belfast’s Waterfront, during which Gray’s Clip was announced as the overall competition winner.
- Vegan food business The Brook tastes crowdfunding success 11th Oct 2018 Vegan food business The Brook funds 130% in their first three days of their equity crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs, with the funds raised to go towards launching a new home delivery service.
