As institutional reform fails and police misconduct is exposed, women are turning to support lines and apps to keep them safe after dark.
‘Text me when you’re home safe’
‘Make sure you share your location’
These are all too familiar phrases for many women travelling after dark. Many walk with their keys between their fingers, constantly looking over their shoulder, worried when a car slows down next to them.
Their worry is not without cause. In recent years, there have been multiple high-profile murders of young women, including those of Sarah Everard, Zarah Aleena and Sabina Neesa.
On March 3rd, 2021, 33-year-old Sarah Everard was abducted, raped and murdered by a serving police officer, Wayne Couzens. Sarah’s death sparked a massive conversation around women’s safety, with many women sharing their own stories of harassment, along with vigils and protests also being organised.
It also highlighted damning failings within the police force and the need for institutional reforms. In fact, police abuse of power for sexual purposes is now the biggest form of corruption dealt with by the Independent Office for Police Complaints.
Furthermore, since 2020, the Metropolitan police have recorded 1,434 matters of sexual misconduct within the force. And, as of September 2025, 346 officers continue to work within the Met despite outstanding claims of sexual misconduct.
As a result of this, many people now have a mistrust of the police, particularly women and ethnic minorities. Some officers continue to serve even after they’ve been found guilty of gross misconduct, and only recently did a law come into effect that they must be dismissed.
“We know a lot of marginalised people have a distrust in the police. We just wanted to offer some place where they could feel safer to call while they travelled home”
Caragh Campbell
“I don’t think it [a police presence] would make much of a difference”, Emily, 21, tells me. “I live next to a police station and still feel unsafe,” she continues. “I feel like the most they’d do is write down my name and forget about it.”
“I don’t know if the police would do much to protect women,” Jade* tells me. “Women and LGBT people, in my experience, have been victim-blamed and ignored by the Met more than straight men.”
The inquiry into Sarah’s death, the Angiolini inquiry, found that more than a quarter of police forces in England and Wales have not implemented basic policies for investigating sexual offences. In 2024, the report found that Couzens should never have been an active police officer, and opportunities were missed to stop him.
As the police and government fail to implement any real changes for women’s safety, grassroots organisations have taken matters into their own hands. After attending a vigil for Sarah, two Edinburgh university students, Rho Chung and Alice Jackson, launched Strut Safe.
What started as a few people taking phone calls from people who felt unsafe in Edinburgh, it has evolved into a completely volunteer-run support line, available to call from anywhere in the UK.
Volunteers will stay on the phone with you until you reach your destination with no judgment, no matter your background or gender identity.
“We all give up our free time to do this; nobody is paid at any level,” says Caragh Campbell. “We all just kind of do this because we feel passionately about it.”
Caragh started at Strut Safe as a call handler in December 2022 but is now part of the outreach team and head of service provision.
She saw Strut Safe on social media around the time her eldest daughter was moving to university.
“I thought it was an amazing service and wanted to be that person that others could call and help them feel safe walking home.”
Earlier this year, Strut Safe teamed up with Uber and Viagogo to offer solo concert attendees a discount on rides home, while encouraging them to call Strut Safe if they needed to.
“It started in March 2021, off the back of a few instances of street violence and high-profile cases,” Caragh tells me. “It was students in Edinburgh that wanted to do something different. They didn’t see any action being taken and wanted to do something at grassroots.”
“We know a lot of marginalised people have a distrust in the police. We just wanted to offer some place where they could feel safer to call while they travelled home”.
Although they specify on their website that they’re unaligned with the police, they do not offer themselves as an alternative to policing. They don’t take GPS information and cannot dispatch emergency services. Luckily, they rarely take calls from those in immediate danger, but they do have policies for emergencies.
“Because we don’t take GPS information, we would encourage people to call the best service that fits their needs at the time,” Caragh tells me, “If that’s the police, that’s the police. If it’s another service, it’s another service.”
Technology has also increasingly been developed to help women feel safer. Walksafe, founded by Emma Kay in 2020, is an app that works in partnership with local authorities and businesses to plot safety-trained venues for those who may need assistance while travelling.
Users can also share their location with friends and alert community members to issues like large crowds or poor street lighting. It also comes equipped with an SOS button, which, when pressed, allows friends to see your last known location. They also have Walksafe Pro, which enables businesses to keep their staff safer on commutes.
“I have experienced a lot in my life from gender based violence when I was younger and even into an adult,” Emma Kay said. “I’ve had a domestic abuse relationship. So I definitely understand how it feels to be vulnerable
“I’d say it [Walksafe] was born out of lived experience. But really the catalyst for change was having children and wanting a different world for them”.
Although founded before the case of Sarah Everard, Walksafe saw a huge spike in users in 2021, after a string of similar cases.
“We had half a million downloads in ten days,” Emma tells me. “Our servers crashed. After Sabina Neesa, we gained 5,000 followers or downloads over that weekend. We definitely saw big spikes where people were feeling unsafe.”
“The one thing we definitely saw was that huge mistrust within institutions from younger generations who just thought, ‘If anything does go wrong, I don’t really want to call you.’ So we became the go-to.”
Despite the increase in police mistrust, Walksafe partners with police forces like South Yorkshire Police, West Mercia, and Cumbria.
“I very much understand there are people in the police force who shouldn’t be,” Emma tells me. “We also recognise that if you’re in danger, that is who you need to call. It is very hard.”
“We can acknowledge that within the Metropolitan Police Service, there have been many cases, like Wayne Couzens. But at the same time, we recognise we do partner with some really good people.”
Just like Strut Safe, Walksafe is not an alternative to policing but is filling a major gap left by institutions.
“I oscillate between it being a sticking plaster, but it’s still needed,” Emma admitted. “All the while we’re having downloads and engagement, it shows we’re not doing enough to support it not being there.”
Epowar is another app designed to support personal safety, but they find their app is used for slightly different reasons than mistrust.
E.J. Roodt, co-founder and CEO, first conceived the idea for Epowar when she was 19, studying at Bath University; being away from home for the first time, she found a significant gap in women’s safety tools.
The first version of their app became available in 2023, with an SOS button and patent-pending automatic attack detection using smartwatches.
“When speaking with users, the main reasons for getting Epowar are rarely directly related to mistrust in the police,” a spokesperson from Epowar told me. “The main reasons are an overall need to feel safer in their daily lives, during exercise or when being in new and unfamiliar places.”
“We have many users who survived violence and find Epowar empowering as a tool to regain control and take up space with more confidence again,” they explained.
“I was walking home alone at night and I got followed by a man who assaulted me and attempted to mug me. Ever since then I am always super vigilant and aware of my surroundings when traveling alone at night.”
Ella*
“A key feature is that Epowar records evidence, detailed location data and vital signs. This has also been a key driver for our users because they feel the justice system requires factual evidence and having Epowar increases the likelihood of conviction.”
Not only are there apps and support lines keeping women safe, there are schemes and organisations around the country. Schemes like ‘Ask For Angela’ are used in bars and venues to help those who feel like they’re in a vulnerable or dangerous situation.
Anyone can approach a member of staff and ask if Angela is working to get the help they need. Some women also turn to personal safety items, like alarms or self defence keyrings.
Although useful, apps, support lines and self defence weapons should not need to exist in order for women to be safe. In 2024, violence against women was declared a national emergency in England and Wales, as a woman is killed by a man every three days in the UK.
Almost every woman you meet will have a story of a time they felt unsafe, in danger or were followed, stalked, catcalled or even assaulted.
“In my first year at uni in London, I was walking home alone at night and I got followed by a man who assaulted me and attempted to mug me,” Ella*, 20, told me.
“Ever since then I am always super vigilant and aware of my surroundings when traveling alone at night. I would never put myself in a vulnerable situation like that again.”
Recently, the UK government announced their plans for a strategy to protect women and girls from abuse and violence. It will focus on tackling misogyny in schools, specialist rape and sexual offences units in every police force and multi-million pound investments to support victims and survivors of violence.
This is a landmark strategy, one that was welcomed by campaigners. However, poor funding means Labour’s promises are not likely to be met.
The government’s strategy may make it seem like meaningful progress is being made. but many remain sceptical. Many women have been left feeling abandoned by institutions meant to protect them and until meaningful reform, they will continue to rely on organisations like Strut Safe and Walksafe.
For now, women will still be told to “stay alert, don’t use headphones, share your location, plan in advance.“
You can download Walksafe and Epowar on the App Store and Play Store.
Call Strut Safe on 0333 335 0026 – the line has call handlers on Thursdays (7:00pm to 1:00am), Fridays & Saturdays (7:00pm to 3:00am), and Sundays (7:00pm to 1:00am).
*Interviewees names have been changed at their request.
Featured image by Tim Dennell on Wikimedia Commons.
