App lets abuse victims use household appliances to get help secretly

By Isobel Williams

A domestic abuse survivor has created an app that can send secret alerts - through your kettle, toaster or hair straightener.

Katy Longhurst, 38, made Ask Joan to turn simple electrical appliances into panic alarms after having to call the police on her ex more than 150 times, she says.

The invention works by analyzing unusual surges in electricity. Alerts are then sent to nominated people such as friends, family members, and the police.

This means that when in a threatening situation, a victim would be able to discreetly get help, Longhurst says.

As a test, she gave the app to 20 women - and says the feedback so far has been amazing.

The app has taken six months to create, and testing will finally be complete on Friday (November 22).

Longhurst said: “I suffered from domestic abuse for four years.

“I always said that I wished there was something on the kettle. When you are in that situation you can read your partner’s behaviour, and I always used to try and calm him down by making a cup of tea.

“Now smart data is available for everyone for energy, so what I have done is integrated that into an application so you can trigger an alert from your kettle, hair straighteners, any household device just by switching it on, off, on, off, and on again.

“The feedback so far has been phenomenal. One lady said she could tell her husband’s temperament was changing so she turned her hair straighteners on and off and sent an alert to her sister who lives a few doors down.

“I wish someone did this for me. If I had this in my property, then it wouldn’t have got to 169 police incidents.

“I tried counselling but nothing really ever helped me. Now knowing that I can help other people that is a special form of counseling.

“I really want to help as many people as possible. I want to prevent what I went through happening to other people.”

The mum-of-one opened up about her own experience with domestic abuse for the first time this year in hopes it would help others.

She says that her story involves every form of domestic abuse - including violence, stalking, harassment and gaslighting.

Over the years she has been to court around 36 times and had 169 police incidents, she says.

Longhurst believes the extent of her abuse has allowed her to help more victims as they are likely to relate to part of her struggle.

She added: “I have never admitted that I was a victim of domestic abuse before this year. I decided that this app could help a lot of people, so I opened up.

“It was awful because I had to tell my son the truth.

Longhurst, who has a degree in computer science, says her app is a huge improvement from traditional panic alarms as they are discreet and don’t involve any installation.

She added: “In a hostile environment it is very difficult to activate a panic alarm.

“When you speak to victims of domestic abuse, they don’t want a panic alarm installed in their property, it is a last resort.

“I think there is a need for it because we don’t install anything in their property. A big thing for people that are in the situation I was in is fear of someone coming into your property.

“Now you can continue with your normal routine and know you have the invisible panic button if you need it.

“If I had gone to make a cup of tea and flipped the switch on the kettle two extra times he never would have noticed.”

Whilst creating the app, Longhurst says she was assisted by Detective Constable Oliver Tween - the officer who was in charge of her case.

She says that knowing the officer had remembered her case and still thought about it gave her an extra push to finish the app.

She added: “He has been my rock. He was my savior before, he saved my life, and now he is helping me take this to market to help other women.

“He is the most incredible human that I have ever met. Having him on the journey with me has reassured me that I am doing the right thing.”