West Dunbartonshire residents urged to use new app to help combat domestic abuse

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Residents in West Dunbartonshire can now download an app created by Police Scotland to tackle domestic abuse and gender-based violence.The Hollie Guard app is designed to give people nationwide the ability to travel safely by setting start and end destinations before setting off.The feature will notify emergency contact once the person has arrived safely at their destination.An alert will be triggered if they don’t arrive at their destination within the time parameters set.During a housing and communities meeting last week, Labour councillor John Millar asked for more information on the scheme.He said: “Police Scotland has highlighted various initiatives that have been launched to tackle domestic abuse.“One of these initiatives is the Hollie Guard app.“I am curious about this because I have constituents that can fall under that category of domestic abuse.“It is always good to be able to pass on information that they might not know of so they have a safety net or get away from that situation.“It is good to know if help can come quite quickly.”Chief Supt Lynn Ratcliff explained that the app can be downloaded onto a mobile phone to help domestic abuse victims.She said: “It can turn your phone into an almost safe device and you can use it to flag up any difficulties in a domestic relationship or if you are travelling alone, travelling into an unknown area and it will track your location.“It can be used if you are out exercising or if you are simply going for a walk.“Although we have highlighted it in a domestic space, I would say it is something that is more aligned with gender-based violence.”Chief Insp Coleen Wylie added: “It is a safety mechanism to act as a deterrent should anyone feel they are at risk of being attacked.