I am delighted that as part of National Stalking Awareness Week, Katy Bourne OBE, the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner is launching the Safe Space Sussex app aimed at helping people should they feel unsafe outside their home in Sussex.
Mims Davies, the MP for Mid Sussex, commented:
“We have all possibly been impacted at some point in or lives where we have not felt as safe as we should have done whist going about our daily business, having immediate access to finding a safe place to go is such a welcome tool to being able safeguard ourselves and remove ourselves from any perceived danger. This grim event has happened to me and too many women. It’s brilliant Katy Bourne PCC is using her role to push to protect more women and girls.”
On first downloading the app, users will be asked to enter their own name and phone number as well as a preferred contact. They will then be directed to a map showing their location and a number of red pins indicating Safe Spaces near them. Tapping on a Safe Space will show opening times and the option to see directions from their current location.
Sussex's PCC, Katy Bourne OBE, said:
"With my new app, users will quickly and easily be able to find a Safe Space near them where they can find a friendly face and somewhere they can feel more comfortable, as well as offering them an easy way to share their current location with a named contact.
“I hope that the Safe Space Sussex app will give users peace of mind that there is somewhere nearby that they can go to for assistance should they need it.”
Stalking may include:
- Regularly following someone,
- Repeatedly going uninvited to their home,
- Checking someone’s internet use, email or other electronic communication,
- Hanging around somewhere they know the person often visits,
- Watching or spying on someone,
- Identity theft (signing-up to services, buying things in someone’s name.
The Four warning signs of Stalking are: Fixated, Obsessive, Unwanted, Repeated.
If you have been or are being affected by this or need guidance visit www.sussex.police.uk/advice
Watch the video or read more here: https://www.sussex-pcc.gov.uk/about/news/launching-the-safe-space-sussex-app/
