A new app that aims to provide help to victims of domestic violence is offering everything from an encrypted diary of evidence to a way to call the authorities without the need to speak.
In order to prevent the abusive partners from recognizing the app on the phones of the victims, the app took several precautions, including not adding a name.
Intimate Partner Violence or IPV
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC )says that the effects of domestic violence, also called intimate partner violence or IPV, can be devastating, as it can go from PTSD to death.
Around 35% of female domestic violence survivors and more than 11% of male domestic violence survivors experience some form of physical injury related to IPV.
IPV can even result in death. Data from U.S. crime reports suggest that a partner kills about 1 in 5 homicide victims.
The reports also found that more than half of female homicide victims in the United States are killed by a current or former male partner, according to 9to5Mac.
Also Read: Smart Speaker Breaks Up Domestic Violence Before It Got Worse: Here's What Happened
There are also a lot of other negative health outcomes associated with IPV. These include a range of conditions affecting the heart, muscles, bones, digestive system, reproduction system, and nervous systems, many chronic.
Survivors can experience mental health issues like post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD symptoms and depression. They are also at a higher risk of engaging in binge drinking, smoking, and sexual risk behaviors.
People from groups that have been marginalized, like people from racial and ethnic minority groups, are at higher risk for worse consequences.
Domestic Violence App with No Name
Domestic abusers can misuse technology like AirTags, but one app aims to use tech on the victim's side.
TNW explains that an app that is being piloted is disguised as something else, but the creator is not giving any clues as to what the app looks like or what it can do.
Users will have the chance to access important information on domestic abuse and report an attack. This way, they can collect evidence like pictures of injuries or diary entries, which can be stored in the app in an encrypted form and later used in court.
In case of a life-threatening event, women can make an in-app call to the police without talking to them. Alternatively, the app can notify a person that they trust.
Plus, users will be given the references they need to contact support facilities if they want to leave their relationship.
The app's camouflage feature is an important element, which can be used even if the abuser has access to the victim's phone.
The creator of the app, Stefanie Knaab, gives no details on what the app looks like in order to avoid perpetrators of domestic violence from recognizing it.
The idea is to create software that is disguised but allows women to collect evidence and contact the police without being noticed. For the same reason, the domestic violence app will have no name.
Currently, the project called Violence-Free into the Future is a pilot project in Germany, but it is hoped that it will be integrated into the country's anti-IPV measures and then rolled out to other countries.
In 2020, Israeli hackers developed an app that alerts women when it detects potential signs of domestic abuse.
In February, Google added a hotline for domestic violence to the search results.
Related Article: Study Finds Link Between Kids Exposed To Domestic Violence And Suicide Attempts
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Written by Sophie Webster
