The Australian of the Year and domestic violence campaigner helped launch a new mobile-based app for victims of domestic violence today.
The Daisy app - developed by 1800RESPECT and funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services – gives users access to specialist services at the touch of a button.
Ms Batty said the app would not only raise awareness of domestic violence support services, but also allow women to make their own choices.
“It will help connect you with options and make choices that suit you, not what people tell you to do,” she said.
The app was developed as part of the Second Action Plan of the Abbott Government’s National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022.
Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women, Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash joined Ms Batty for the launch, where she stressed the use of technology to control, stalk and intimidate victims.
“Daisy includes a number of security features such as a get help button that allows users to quickly call 000 and a quick exit button to leave screens containing service information,” she said.
The launch followed the release of another online support tool, aimed at helping women aged between 16 and 50 years.
The I-DECIDE website - developed at the University of Melbourne in cooperation with women and community groups – offers women in unhealthy relationships a way of tracking their health and creating a plan of action.
Professor Kelsey Hegarty, one of the site’s creators, said the tool offered the veil of anonymity giving users access to an “objective, unbiased resource”.
The Daisy app is free to download now from Google Play for android phones and will be available soon in the App Store for iPhones.
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