Newswise — The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the city’s Sojourner Family Peace Center have partnered to develop an app that discreetly and quickly gives those affected by domestic abuse an emergency connection to the help they need.
“We know that the information and support that a survivor can get by talking to an advocate saves lives,” said Carmen Pitre, executive director of Sojourner Family Peace Center. “This is one more tool to make information easily available.”
UW-Milwaukee’s App Brewery, which works with nonprofits to develop useful apps, created the Sojourner Peace App in collaboration with the center, which serves 10,000 clients impacted by domestic abuse and violence each year in Wisconsin. The app works with both iPhone and Android and is available in English and Spanish. A Russian version is being developed.
Other apps have been developed that offer information and checklists on potentially abusive relationships, but App Brewery Manager Dustin Hahn said this is the first one – to his knowledge – that gives users tools to seek help with one or two quick taps to the phone.
The Sojourner Peace app includes links and phone numbers for places where abuse victims can turn, including Sojourner’s 24-hour domestic violence hotline and Sojourner Family Peace Center programs and services.
The app, which was introduced to clients in March after months of testing, comes with privacy features to help protect users. One quick touch fades the screen to black and clears the browsing history. The button for the app itself can be hidden behind a generic app button.
“Safety is always our primary focus,” Pitre said. While there were concerns that abusers might use the app to further harass their victims, the center’s staff decided to go ahead and market it widely to victims and potential victims because of the benefits it offers.
“We encourage victims to talk to an advocate about technology safety overall, including the safety of downloading apps,” said Pitre.
The University’s App Brewery not only provides useful apps to nonprofits, but it gives students experience in working with real clients. The School of Information Studies sponsors the project, but students come from academic programs that prepare them for careers in information studies and technology, graphic design and computer assignment.
“Our students get real-world experience,” said Tomas A. Lipinski, dean of the School of Information Studies. “Community service is one of the hallmarks of UWM, and one of the things we do at SOIS is to teach students to empower themselves and others through technology.”
The Sojourner Family Peace Center, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, is the largest provider of domestic violence prevention and intervention services in Wisconsin.
“When we found out what Sojourner does, and how their work affects those who’ve been abused, we thought it was a project that could really make a difference,” said Hahn.
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