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"Keep your body": how an application reduces the risk of assault in the street

2021-12-07T19:17:30.232Z


The application intends to allow its users to have "a place of refuge to go to in the event of street harassment or assault at any time, 24 hours a day".


The fear of victims of street harassment is invisible, even intangible, but the benevolence of a merchant can sometimes save lives.

As part of the UN campaign "

Orange the world

" against violence against women which takes place from November 25 to December 10, the city of Puteaux in the Hauts-de-Seine, is associated with the application "

Keep your body-Umay

" to fight against street harassment.

Read also Why domestic violence is even more taboo in the countryside

One evening when returning from work in Aix-en-Provence, Pauline notices that she is being followed, then harassed by a man. She then tries to take refuge in a bar to escape her attacker and get to safety, without success: the security guard prevents her from entering the establishment, the yoga teacher does not have the right outfit. She finally manages to put an end to this chase episode with her attacker and to return home. The young Aixoise is one of the 81% of women who have already been victims of sexual harassment in public places in France, according to an Ipsos survey carried out in July 2021. Only 20% of them say they have been helped. A year after this episode, the idea of ​​forming a network of benevolent businesses sprouted in the mind of Pauline who launched the"

Guard your body-Umay " application

In 2019.

Places of refuge

Do not remain alone in your fear thanks to "

guardian angels

".

In the cities and villages that are partners of the application, bars, shops, pharmacies, tobacconists, supermarkets and hotels form a network of traders where they can seek refuge in the event of street harassment or assault.

"

The goal is that there is always a place of refuge to go to in the event of street harassment or assault at any time, 24 hours a day,

" explains Pauline Vanderquand, convinced of the power of the benevolence of businesses to fight against insecurity in the street.

Thanks to a geolocation system, users can secure their journey by accessing a map of

Safe spaces

, places of refuge where to go in the event of a problem on the way back.

"If she had not sent this message, nobody would have worried and we would not have looked for it"

Pauline Vanderquand, founder of the Umay-Garde ton Corps application

"

The key is to be in communication so as not to be left alone in the face of danger

", estimates the founder of the application on which it is possible to send a message to a trusted contact who is immediately informed of the journey. made by the user.

The victim can send him an alert signal at any time so as not to be isolated and possibly rescued by the police if necessary.

The battery time, exact GPS position and estimated travel time are thus sent to the designated contact.

A tool for the police

It was the distress message from one of her friends to her companion one evening as she was being followed on her way home, which enabled her to be found after her assault. "

If she had not sent this message, nobody would have worried,

we would not have looked for it

", specifies the founder of the application. Data generated by the application which facilitates the intervention of the police. "

The police research perimeter is defined directly, that changes everything

". A feature that has enabled the Aix-en-Provence police to secure some twenty women and victims of domestic violence to be accompanied when filing a complaint.

"A first step to get their life back in hand",

she believes.

The application lists all the places of refuge to go to in the event of street harassment or assault. Eva kandoul

The reports allow the police to have their eyes on the ground at all times.

The police are notified of every report.

If insecurity is reported 25 times in the same street, the city officials will go and look and perhaps realize that the lamppost no longer works

, ”explains Pauline Vanderquand.

Access to a map of reports of attacks allows communities to better deploy means of action and prevention against insecurity in their territory.

In the case of domestic violence, this data constitutes a lever for the associations which help the victims to leave their homes as quickly as possible to bring them to safety.

Read alsoA QR Code against domestic violence

If the fight against harassment is an in-depth job, each report counts and allows other people to realize that they are not the only ones who have been victims.

"

There is always a fear and a questioning but it is the butterfly effect that will make things happen

", notes Pauline.

In Puteaux, the adventure is only in its infancy, but the application is already well established in the rest of France, where it has more than 40,000 registrants.

The founder now intends to conquer the globe to reduce the insecurity of her international users.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-12-07

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