SaferTogether
*note: given the amazing input of advocacy groups, we have decided to add additional steps to our development plan to ensure this app meets the unique needs of all communities we serve. To allow a longer feedback period from sexual assault survivors, transgender individuals, and members of the disabled community, we are pushing the release to Spring 2017*
I am a Doctoral student in Public Health, a wife, and an ally. My whole life, I have worked to help our most vulnerable citizens. In the past year and a half, we've seen the list of vulnerable people grow much, much bigger.
I realized we would need a way to protect our friends, loved ones, and fellow citizens from a growing tide of harassment . All of us- Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian, and Green, must come together to stand up to racism, sexism, ablism, religious intolerance, homophobia, xenophobia, and violations of the civil rights that form the cornerstone of our justice system.
So I decided to create an app that helps combat hate in all of its forms.
It's called SaferTogether. We plan to release it in the Spring of 2017.
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The app will combat harassment by:
A) Allowing targets of harassment to anonymously geotag and document their experiences.
B) Recruiting and training volunteer allies to provide safety and support. Allies must provide a working email address, a working Facebook profile, and two references. We require these three forms of proof to ensure that individuals who want to harass vulnerable groups are not able to use this app as a means of targeting individuals.
C) Empowering targets of harassment by giving them an easy way to identify high-risk areas and plan accordingly. People will be able to anonymously request the accompaniment of allies living near a particular high-risk area. The app will notify allies of requests via email, and if they accept the request they agree to serve as an escort, to make an effort to de-escalate any harassment that they witness, and to provide a witness statement if the person requesting their assistance chooses to report harassment to authorities.
D) Allowing individuals who seek the assistance of allies to provide anonymous feedback, to ensure that our volunteer allies are not engaging in any harassment or behaving inappropriately.
E) Providing a dual-function distress signal button to use in emergencies. The distress signal will (1) allow the user to create a tailored, geotagged SOS text message and pre-program recipients of the message from their contacts, and (2) send additional push notifications to nearby allies in a crisis. Users can choose to enable one or both of these functions.
F) Providing an anti-harassment toolkit, including a video recording feature and 911 speed-dial.
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We are building this app through Visual studio with Xamerin.
We plan to use the following development timeline:
By mid-January, we plan to have the Alpha version completed. We will begin troubleshooting at this stage.
By mid-February, we plan to release the Beta version, at which point we will work with a larger network to evaluate user friendliness, ensure functionality, and identify any features that may improve the usefulness of the app.
By March 1, we will move on to a Gamma release, to refine the program and ensure all bugs have been corrected.
By mid-March we will draft a user guide and disclaimer.
By late March, we plan to begin a marketing campaign through social justice websites, Facebook, and Twitter. We hope to work in conjunction with organizations planning rallies and protests in DC during the inauguration, in particular, as safety and support networks will be very important at that time.
By April we will begin recording a short video providing allies with training in: de-escalation, ensuring targets of harassment are able to relocate to a secure location, obtaining consent prior to contacting law enforcement, and specific circumstances that should trigger an immediate call to 911.
By Spring of 2017, we hope to release the app itself.
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Our programmer is making amazing strides, and a specialist on violence research is developing the instructional video. We are making progress, but we are currently working on this project without any resources.
To develop, beta-test, publicize and release this app on schedule, we need to raise at least $2,000. The first $2,000 will go directly to our programmer, who is currently doing the bulk of the work. Additional donations will go to advertising and publicity.
We need to raise these funds so we will have enough time to pay our programmer, finish the app, pilot test it, and troubleshoot.
Your contributions will help empower people who feel vulnerable to harassment. In a time when the KKK plans to march and swastikas are appearing in cities across the country, we must stand beside the targets of hate and offer our support. We can stop hate if we are united. I truly believe we are SaferTogether.
