A Call for Urgent Action on Women's Safety

To the UK Government, Law Enforcement Authorities, and Policymakers,

At Epowar, our mission is to help women* claim their right to feel safe. We are committed to empowering women and girls by creating innovative technology that supports prosecution and prevents Violence against women and girls (VAWG).

VAWG continues to rise, and with it, the mental and financial burden women carry to make themselves feel safe.

New research from Epowar shows:

• 78% of women feel unsafe walking alone in the dark, and almost half (48%) of women in the UK avoid heading out when it’s dark because of safety concerns.

• 88% of women in the UK say they would be more likely to report harassment or assault if they had concrete evidence. 

• Over half (51%) of women spend money on taxis to feel safer when moving from A to B alone in the evening. 

• On average, women in the UK spend £35/ month on taxis to ensure they get home safely. This is the same as £420 per year. (In London, the average expenditure is £500 a year).

• Nearly half (47%) of women in the UK are paying for therapy and self-defence due to safety concerns.

• 72% of women in the UK ask their friends and family to “text me when you get back” when they’re out and about, but only ⅓ get a response. 

Today, we are calling on you to recognise that the mental and financial burden women carry to protect themselves, or the #TextMeWhenYouGetBackTax, is unacceptable.

VAWG was deemed a “national emergency” by the National Police Chiefs’ Council. Yet digital innovation, which directly reduces this burden, remains underfunded, under-promoted, and under-valued. 

Existing government initiatives, such as the Safer Streets policy, instead focus on long-term change, such as education to change attitudes and behaviour, or pour funding into outdated deterrents and technologies, such as additional CCTV. 

These policies and initiatives don’t recognise the urgent need for innovative solutions that aid the women experiencing or fearing violence right now. 

What we are asking for:

1. Police: Embrace and Endorse Personal Safety Tech

• Develop clear standards to recognise and endorse digital safety tools that genuinely help women and girls.  

• Incentivise public adoption of digital safety tools to maximise impact. 

• Educate police officers about how to use and support survivors with digital evidence from tools such as Epowar.

• Invest in collaboration between digital forensics departments and VAWG-focused tech startups to solve crimes more efficiently, accurately and with greater survivor sensitivity.

2. Government: Financial Support

• Incentivise private investment in impact-focused tech (e.g., additional SEIS or EIS tax relief for investments in startups tackling societal challenges).

• Allocate grants for public awareness campaigns to promote existing digital safety tools, ensuring women know about the resources available to them.

• Expand the portfolio of available grants for businesses specifically tackling societal challenges, such as VAWG.
  

3. Policy: Build Better Together

• Facilitate knowledge exchange opportunities between tech innovators and public sector VAWG specialists to ensure women’s safety tools are survivor-sensitive and meet official standards.

• Support and fund coaching and training opportunities for tech innovators to benefit from specialist VAWG expertise.
  

In a national emergency, innovative technology isn't optional – it's essential. But it needs your backing.

We are calling for urgent action, constructive dialogue, and meaningful collaboration.

We invite the police, government, and policymakers to meet with us – and with other women’s safety advocates – to decrease the burden women carry to protect themselves.

Yours sincerely,
E-J Roodt and Maks Rahman
Co-founders, Epowar
www.epowar.com

*When we say women, we are inclusive of all women, including trans women.