One of the many problems women face in their everyday lives is street harassment, and a newly-relaunched app hopes to end it once and for all. According to the Daily Dot, Hollaback! is the work of intersectional activists from all over the globe looking to put a stop to the unwanted interactions.
The app originally launched in 2010 and this recent update allows victims of harassment to document and share their experiences more easily on their phones. Emily May, co-founder and the initiative’s first executive director, says that "the original concept was 'let us tell our stories and see if anyone else is going through this.' It was happening all the time to us and no one else was talking about it.” She added: “We felt like ‘Are we the only people in New York City being harassed or what?’ And obviously we are not, it’s happening to so, so many people.”
Users are encouraged to detail their complete experience, and have the ability to create a personal map to show their history with such incidents. The sharable maps will be a useful resource for not only cis women, but at-risk people like trans women.
It took two years to complete the re-launch but the hard work paid off. Hollaback! maintains its headquarters in New York City, and coordinates with leaders from 84 cities in 31 countries around the world. On the future of the growing app, May said, “Cultural change is the piece that underpins all of this. We’re not looking to increase criminalization—we’re looking for community accountability.”
The latest edition is available in 10 different languages, and can be downloaded by both Android and iPhone users.
