Women are rarely safe, especially at night. Females are the number one victim of violence in the world and it seems that the number of victims is increasing every year.
Alice Jackson, 22, was there to support Sarah Everard, a 33 year-old woman from the UK who was abducted, raped and murdered by a policeman. Rachel Chung, 28, was there to help.
The Edinburgh University students created Strut Safe, a telephone company that people can call if they’re walking home alone at night.
“I felt so enraged and helpless,” said Rachel. “I had become so tired of feeling like this, and like I couldn’t go to the police for help.”
Rachel held a bullhorn at the vigil and promised to take anyone home that night if necessary. Initially, they thought that would be the service—she and Alice would walk people home across Edinburgh meadows. They soon realized that there was more to it.
“So we bought a cheap phone from Tesco and started a hotline, and the response got very big very quickly. It just seemed like the thing that we could do in that moment that could make an immediate difference,” Rachel said.
Since then, Strut Safe’s telephone helpline has been taking calls every weekend. Over 76,000 people have followed them on Instagram to date. They have hundreds of volunteers who answer calls every night and are trained and background-checked.
Strut Safe also offers a walking and biking service in Edinburgh, but their telephone service is more in-demand.
Typically, their callers aren’t in an emergency situation. It’s mostly people walking home alone from work or from a night out with friends.
“People might say ‘I only need you for two minutes, I’m just walking through a park or down an alley.’ We’ll talk about gossip from their night, or their degree – once I was chatting to someone about what she should get her mum for Christmas. It’s like being a professional friend,” Alice explained.
However, it’s not all lighthearted.
“We do also get calls that are quite chilling,” she added. “Someone might be in real emotional distress and you’re trying to coach them through it. We often get people saying ‘I’m walking home and I think someone is following me’, or ‘I’ve just been catcalled and I’m scared.’”
They have trained dispatchers available to call an ambulance or notify police if necessary.
The hotline saw an increase in calls after the news of the high-profile murders of two London women shocked the nation. Their numbers were also shared on social media.
Rachel stated that the telephone helpline receives a lot of calls from large cities like London where crime is more prevalent.
“Especially since the Night Tube hasn’t been running for so long and cabs are so expensive in London, women often have no choice but to walk home alone,” she said.
Although most callers are cisgender, Alice and Rachel stress that the line can be used by anyone.
The phone helpline currently operates on Friday and Saturday nights between 7 p.m. and 3 a.m., as well as Sunday nights between 7 and 1 a.m. The founders hope to expand the service to operate every night, but they also hope that the day would come when it wouldn’t be needed at all.
“It’s a difficult tightrope to walk,” said Rachel. “In the best case scenario, some day Alice and I would be out of a job, and Strut Safe would be obsolete.”
Strut Safe can still be supported by making an online donation. This vital service will continue to run with any amount you can contribute.
This service is currently available in the UK. Hopefully, other countries will follow. Strut Safe‘s free helpline 0333 335 0026 operates from 7pm-3am on Fridays and Saturdays, and 7pm-1am on Sundays
