A new iPhone app may help people report sexual violence, reports Youth Today. Circle of 6 uses GPS and text messaging to alert friends to your location if a date goes bad, says Nancy Schwartzman of the app's developer, the Line Campaign Inc. More than 19,000 users have downloaded the app since its release last month.
Circle of 6 uses pre-installed short message service (SMS) notifications, which are mapped to six friends or family members on a user's smartphone. Using the phone's GPS, friends and family can locate the user. Additionally, the app allows users to quickly access national hotlines, as well as immediately notify several pre-programmed contacts that they need advice or someone to call them during the course of a date. Available as a free download at Apple's iTunes store, the application was honored as the winner of the 2011 White House Apps Against Abuse Technology Challenge.