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Foundation creates domestic violence app
Be 1 For Change initiative helps victims, family members, professionals discover intimate partner aggression patterns
The One Love Foundation, which seeks to uphold the memory of former University student Yeardley Love, last week unveiled a new app to help identify the risk of intimate partner violence.
Love was murdered by her ex-boyfriend George Huguely, former University student and lacrosse player in May 2010.
The One Love Danger Assessment Mobile App presents gay and straight men and women with a series of questions about their relationship. If their responses indicate they may be in danger, the app offers them national resources to contact about intimate partner violence.
“Most people who are in abusive relationships know something’s wrong, but they don’t know exactly what it is,” said Claire Kaplan, director of Sexual and Domestic Violence Services. “It helps you realize there is a pattern.”
According to the app, warning signs include frequent fights, violence, controlling nature and verbal abuse.
The app was developed with the help of Jackie Campbell, a leading researcher on intimate partner violence at Johns Hopkins University, said foundation spokesperson Chris Daley. This initiative is part of the foundation’s broader “Be 1 for Change” campaign, an initiative designed to combat relationship violence that references Love’s former lacrosse jersey — number 1.
Since victims themselves may not always realize they’re in a potentially dangerous relationship, the foundation designed the app so that potential victims’ family, friends and other professionals, such as teachers and coaches, can use the survey.
Kaplan said the app’s strength is providing individuals with access to resources and tools already used by people who work with victims of intimate partner violence.
“Having looked at the app, I thought it was a really great tool,” Kaplan said.
The app, which is available on iPhones, Androids and online, is designed for individuals between 16 and 24, and is completely free and anonymous, Daley said.
