Schwartzman is a filmmaker and anti-violence activist who created the iPhone app “Circle of 6,” which helps prevent sexual violence and recently won the White House’s “Apps Against Abuse” technology challenge.
What does the app do?
You choose six friends who will be known as your “circle of six” and enter their contact information into the application. If you are ever in a dangerous situation, you can choose one of three icons: One icon is a car, and when you select it, the app sends your GPS coordinates to your friends. It means: “Come get me, I need help getting home safely.” The second is a phone icon, and it send this message: “Call me and pretend you need me, I need an interruption.” This would be used, for example, if you are getting cornered by someone at a party. The third icon provides links to resources on sexual violence and healthy relationships.
What prompted you to create the app?
The White House put forth a challenge over the summer to create an application aimed at targeting abuse, and I had been doing all this anti-violence work with young people so I went up for the challenge. I am really motivated by creating communities where violence isn’t tolerated and people are making healthy, consensual decisions.
Is the app catching on?
The app became available on March 20 — we wanted to get it out there ahead of April’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month — and we have more than 8,000 downloads already.
What one piece of advice would you give someone who is in an abusive relationship?
Over and over again, especially when I’m visiting college campuses, I hear stories from victims of sexual violence who say they feel very isolated and don’t know how to talk to someone, how to reach out. My advice would be to keep your channels of communication open and essentially speak out about what’s on your mind. Don’t suffer in silence.
— Hayley Peterson
