Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

Latest tools for sexual assault victims: Smartphone apps and software

Washington Post: “…[Silicon Valley CEO Jess] Ladd founded Callisto, a nonprofit organization that has created software for reporting sexual misconduct on college campuses. The reports are time-stamped and saved on an encrypted database but not immediately submitted to authorities. The software tracks complaints and then flags those that involve a repeat offender, alerting victims and school officials in the process. By letting a victim know that their assailant has been accused of targeting more than one person, Callisto aims to remove psychological barriers that make reporting assault so difficult, Ladd said. If a victim thinks their assailant may target even more people, she added, that can also be a powerful incentive to take action. “You can go to the police, but most college survivors don’t have any interest in going to the police,” Ladd said. “Sometimes they just don’t want to see their assailant every day or to be on record in case they do it again. Sometimes they want that person to be talked to or expelled.”

For much of the past decade, dozens of apps and websites have been created to help survivors of sexual assault electronically record and report such crimes. They are designed to assist an enormous pool of potential victims. The Rape Abuse & Incest National Network reports that more than 11 percent of all college students — both graduate and undergraduate — experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence or incapacitation. Despite the prevalence of such incidents, less than 10 percent of victims on college campuses report their assaults, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center…”

Sorry, comments are closed for this post.