Ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, where streets and public transportation will be saturated, The Sorority app and online community wants to be a reliable source of help for anyone, everywhere.
It is now available in eight new languages, including Mandarin, Swahili and Arabic, for the international sporting event.
The app allows anyone who feels in immediate danger in the streets, in a bar, or on public transportat, both as a witness or a victim, to rapidly send a discreet alert to the community.
With over 102,000 members worldwide, The Sorority helps women and gender minorities protect each other and act against any form of violence, from physical assault to harassment, isolation, discrimination and domestic violence.
“Domestic violence increases by 38% when the supporting soccer team loses, and by 26% if the game ends in a draw. We are expecting a dramatic increase in violence and incivilities against women and gender minorities,” The Sorority said.
Priscillia Routier-Trillard, founder and CEO of The Sorority, has urged everyone going to France to download the app to join a strong community of mutual aid and support.
Any member of the community receiving the alert can help, either by getting in contact with the caller and offering assistance if they are close by, geolocating them to keep them company, or calling the authorities.
One minute after the alert is launched, 10 contacts on average are mobilised, and reach out to the victim via chat messages and phone calls.
The app will be an essential tool for women and gender minorities during the Paris Olympics thanks to useful features such as a very loud ringtone to surprise the attacker, a list of necessary emergency numbers, many safe places to escape to and a distress message to display on the screen.
These components were created with the objective to reduce the gravity of potential assaults: destabilising and distracting the attacker, shifting the ‘freeze’ response onto the assailant, diminishing the bystander effect by involving a community of witnesses, and quickly alerting the authorities.
Recognised and certified by the French Interior Ministry, the National Gendarmerie and the police, the app is an approved and guaranteed effective source of support.
Created in 2019 by the non-profit organisation The Sorority Foundation, it is free of charge and downloadable worldwide.
The organisation hopes to benefit from the visibility granted by the Paris Olympics to strengthen its international presence and pursue its fight against gender-based violence, everywhere in the world.