For Emma Kay, it started at age 12. “I had a really dodgy cut-through, via a park, to get to school. That’s when I started to experience being cat-called, followed and harassed,” she said.
“It was a pretty horrible route, but there was no other route I could take. It’s an experience that’s followed me throughout my life – I won’t be the first or the last woman who’s experienced this either.” Growing up as the daughter of a former Met police officer, safety was a common topic of conversation at home, but it wasn’t enough to help her escape harassment.
“You can have all the advice in the world, but I still had to be a young person and navigate my life,” Emma said. “You can take all of the right measures but sometimes things will still happen.” That’s where she hopes her app will come in.
Free app WalkSafe has rolled out in 35 towns and cities across the UK since its launch in 2020, and finally arrived in Manchester last week. The app was launched at an event inside Matt & Phred's jazz club. (Image: Manchester City Council) It offers the usual safety features which let users share their journey with others (the WalkSafe and Follow Me features).
It can also send out an automatic alert if a user doesn’t reach their intended destination. But what sets it apart is its interactive map, where users can see and plot “safe routes” that lead past venues trained in night-time safety (like Ask for Angela), as well as live support like street marshals, .