Recently, a video was released of a woman, Shoshana Roberts, walking through the streets of New York, being harassed as she goes. Putting aside issues (and there are issues) of the races that were edited out, it’s important to note that her experience was quite sadly typical for a New Yorker. The culture of the New York street is to keep moving, avoid eye contact, and let everyone get where they’re going without having to interact with other humans.
Unless you’re a straight guy who likes the look of a woman walking by. Then, there’s the unfortunate social norm to engage in everything from cat-calling to following to cursing a woman out for not responding to the advances of a stranger as she’s on her way to work, school, or home.
The best way to end street harassment is to educate men about how it makes a woman feel. But that takes time. Even if education is eventually effective, in the short-term, people need to feel safe. I say people because while women are most likely to be harassment victims, we’re not the only group at risk. Anyone can be the victim of assault, a mugging, medical emergency, or an accident.
Presented here is a run-down of options that currently exist and some coming to the market to help keep people safe in a variety of circumstances, with many different approaches.
Apps
SOS Stay Safe
Recommended for: All users
Available on Android 2.2 and above, SOS Stay Safe allows you to set how the alert is activated: you can click the power button three times or program a specific way of shaking your phone. The app then sends a text or email to a list of contacts of your choosing with your name, location, a voice recording, time print, and the battery level of your phone. I would definitely send a few false alarms with this just from the exercise of digging around in my pockets or purse to locate my phone. The app costs $1.
bSafe
Recommended for: All users
bSafe is a free app that allows you to notify limitless friends by text in case of an emergency. You can also choose a primary emergency contact who receives a phone call. When you activate the alert, bSafe records audio and video, all of which is saved on bSafe’s servers for submission to police. You can invite friends to trace your GPS signal as you walk, and bSafe lets you know who’s watching. Premium features, including access to a security team, are available in Norway and Sweden and will be coming to South Africa and the United States soon. bSafe is compatible with both Android and iPhone.
Watch Over Me
Recommended for: All users, premium features far outclass the free app.
Watch Over Me, compatible with Android and iPhone, allows you to set a check-in time after which an alert will go out if you haven’t been heard from. The app tracks your location while in Watch Over Me mode, and your contacts get a map and video-capture from your phone (Android only). To initiate an alert, you have to have the app launched. Then, you can simply shake the phone. The app will sound an alarm, take video, and send your location. In some major cities, the app notifies you when you’re about to enter a high-crime area. At $9.99 for three months or $23.99 for 12 months, premium features include unlimited watching duration, unlimited SMS notification, unlimited emergency contacts, SMS, email, and FB messaging, and video recording. Reviews indicate that this app can also be easily triggered by accident.
Circle of 6
Recommended for: All users, specifically teenagers through college-aged.
Developed for college students and compatible with both iPhone and Android, Circle of 6 allows you to choose up to six friends to ask for help. Your friends can receive preset messages from you such as, “I need help getting home (with a link to your location)” or the possibly-bad-date-ending “I need an interruption, please call me!” message. The cancel button is in the middle of the screen. At the bottom of the screen is a button to dial a hotline for rape/sexual assault, relationship abuse, or another custom hotline.
Guardly
Recommended for: Organizations and the students/employees on location.
Aimed at businesses, schools, and organizations, Guardly features an indoor positioning system, giving first responders precise information about what building, floor, and even room that you are in. Guardly interacts with preexisting monitoring systems to streamline reporting. Each smartphone with the app can function as a virtual blue-light emergency phone. Real-time information can be sent to dispatchers, including user identity, location, type of emergency, and photos.
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