Flare Report app to make women and girls feel safer in Northamptonshire
Flare Report
A new, free smartphone app – Flare Report – has been launched to help women and girls feel and be safer on the streets of Northamptonshire.
We know that most women do not report incidents of street harassment - like cat-calling or inappropriate behaviour to the police. Flare Report allows women to report, anonymously and quickly, any incidents or behaviour that make them feel unsafe when they are out and about. It's not for emergencies. Flare Report is a way to tell us about street harassment and similar incidents. Police will collate and analyse the reports made, so that problem areas can be identified and action taken.
This is new for Northamptonshire and it is hoped that reports made on Flare will help to build a clearer picture of where incidents are happening and give women the confidence to report things that might otherwise go unreported.
What to report
Flare Report can be downloaded to Apple or Android devices. Women and girls can use it to report incidents and behaviour that are inappropriate and make them feel unsafe, such as cat calling, comments or touching, street harassment or other threatening behaviour. It provides you the opportunity to tell us informally and anonymously about where incidents are occurring and the type of things that are making you feel uncomfortable or unsafe.
We know anecdotally that many women and girls simply would not report such incidents to the Police, either because they are embarrassed, or they don’t think it will be taken seriously. Flare Report is the mechanism for doing this.
Flare is not for reporting crimes in progress, but Police will check reports every day to make sure that nothing that needs an urgent response has been submitted.
Reportable experiences may include:
- Staring
- Cat calling/wolf-whistling
- Inappropriate gestures
- Inappropriate comments/comments on physical appearance
- Invading personal space
- Verbal abuse
- Drink spiking
- Being followed/spied on
- Being bought/sent unwanted gifts
- Online harassment/stalking
- Threatening violence or sending threatening objects
- Unwanted repeated social contact
- Other stalking behaviour
- Sexual comments made in public
- Inappropriate touching without consent
- Being sent inappropriate images
- Indecent exposure
- Up skirting
- Serious sexual assault/rape
What happens with the data
The information submitted on the app will enable Police to identify places or venues where inappropriate behaviour is making women feel unsafe. That information will be used by Police and other partners such as the local authorities to take action to reduce the risk to women and tackle perpetrators and problems.
The data from the Flare app will hopefully show us what, where, and when inappropriate behaviours are occurring. It will help draw attention to venues or areas within the county that are problematic, or patterns of behaviour in particular places. We can then concentrate our operational resources and activities to help keep people safe.
