Can a phone app make you feel safe over the festive period?
Personal safety differs from every woman; some may never feel at risk whilst others can dread the thought of walking alone in the dark – but can an app help put you at ease?
We use our phones for plenty of things during the day, alarms, reminders, letting our friends and strangers know what we’re eating via Instagram, but would you use it to feeler safer when you head out in the dark.
New research by YouGov for drinks brand Lambrini, asked more than 1,000 women from across Britain to talk about how safe they feel in the dark when out at night.
65% of women aged 18 to 44 admitted they had walked home alone in the dark more than once after an evening out last winter and 11% said they did this more than once a week. Of all women who had walked home alone in the dark last winter, 82% said they felt they had put their personal safety at risk by doing this on at least one occasion; yet only 12% of women surveyed have ever carried a personal safety alarm to make themselves feel safer. Instead they prefer to hold their keys, hold a mobile phone and even some will keep hairspray handy to feel safer.
But what’s shocking, is 34% of all the women surveyed said they had considered dressing differently to make themselves feel safer when they knew they’d be walking home alone in the dark.
“At this time of year, it’s important for women to consider their personal safety and take steps to make sure they don’t put themselves in any danger,” said Michelle Raworth, Brand Manager at Lambrini, “This survey shows that it’s very important for women to feel safe too.”
In a bid to tackle women’s personal safety issues, Lambrini has just re-launched a free personal safety app called ‘Lambrini BodyGuard’, which uses mobile location to offer a ‘get me home’ link to taxi phone numbers and bus and train timetables in the local area.
The app also has a ‘I’ve arrived safely’ function which sends a message to friends and relatives via a text or social media; it also has a unit calculator so women can keep themselves safe by tracking their alcohol intake over the festive season.
Michelle said: “Almost a third of women in the online survey said they have used social media to check that their friends have arrived home safely. 83% used their mobile phone to send a text message so we hope that The Bodyguard App can offer practical information, useful functions and peace of mind so that women can feel more confident about their personal safety.”
Is this app enough to make you feel safe though?
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