Among the features the “Bright Sky” app offers--free of charge--is the possibility to assess the safety of a relationship, locate support centres and learn about different types of abuse. Additional special features have also been added specifically for victims, with more in the works over the year ahead.
Support for a “hidden pandemic”
Domestic violence is what Rhys Shegar-Astoralli, head of Vodafone Foundation Luxembourg, called a “hidden pandemic”, in part because “it disproportionately impacts women and while there are movements to support this area, it has been a little bit of a taboo subject and, as a result, young girls, women and men are suffering in silence.”
Indeed, domestic violence cases handled by the Luxembourg police in 2019 rose 14% year-on year, with 1,337 victims reported--including three deaths. Of those, over 63% of the victims--and two of the fatalities--were women.
Although the figures have not yet been published for 2020, Shegar-Astoralli anticipates a similar spike as those seen in the UK, for example, as a result of more intense situations as a result of covid-19 lockdowns.
“During a normal situation if you were with an aggressive partner, they go to work for the day, you get a window of physical space,” Shegar-Astoralli explained. But with lockdown or work-from-home situations, those windows were often lost.
“I think that’s something we all need to think about, what sort of environment that must be when for 24 hours, seven days a week, you’re locked with someone that’s a perpetrator.”
He adds that often the cases are underreported--victims may not know who to turn to or have enough resources to do so.
The fact that “Bright Sky” has already been launched in a number of countries--the UK, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Romania and Czech Republic--has allowed the team behind the Luxembourg-focused app to gain insights and think through special situations the victims might face.
And while it aims to help put victims or those concerned about them in touch with the right people, utilising the expertise of Femmes en Détresse in the case of Luxembourg, Shegar-Astoralli admits “this app is certainly not a panacea. But [it] will no doubt be a significant resource to those experiencing domestic abuse situations, connecting them to right information, access to support services and all at a touch of a button.”
A vast network of support
The Vodafone Foundation for over 10 years has used tech to connect more than 1m individuals impacted by domestic violence.
But Vodafone has even gone a step further to address this important topic internally: in 2019, it integrated its own global domestic violence and abuse policy, which offers 10 days of paid leave for its employees dealing with such situations. In the grand duchy alone, employees have access with psychologists, up to eight consultations.
The “Bright Sky” app has received plenty of support already, including from Post Luxembourg, which has “zero-rated the app, which means that any data consumed, or using it, is for free,” Shegar-Astoralli explaind.
Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, also founder of the Stand Speak Rise Up initiative, will also give a speech during the app’s official launch taking place on 8 March, coinciding with International Women’s Day.
Other companies have come forward as well with pro bono offers, including JC Decaux, which has helped arrange an awareness campaign outside of the Gare starting early next week.
And one of the strengths behind the Vodafone Foundation’s involvement, as Shegar-Astoralli explains, is the fact that “when you have a large organisation that's resource-rich and has the technology, people, and then you meet an NGO which has the focus, the insight, the sense of what to do, right, the first time and every time, then synergies come together, you make a bigger impact.”
The app is already available in English, French, Luxembourgish and Portuguese, with Arabic and Serbian expected to be added in the coming year.