Katy Longhurst, who made nearly 170 reports of abuse to four different police forces, says more communication is vital as she works towards the widespread roll out of a new app that could turn everyday objects in silent panic alarms.
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00:00So he would start with physically just mental abuse. If that didn't work, he would escalate
00:05into harassment. If that didn't work, it was gaslighting. If that didn't work, it was violence.
00:10When Katie Longhurst met her perpetrator in Chatham more than a decade ago,
00:14she didn't know that she would go on to make 169 reports of domestic abuse against her ex-partner.
00:23But despite making so many reports, Katie doesn't believe she was taken seriously
00:30until one detective re-examined her case.
00:33So for me, I think that I was seen as a nuisance because I was contacting the police every single
00:38day. And I don't think they have the right training around domestic abuse. And coercive
00:43control is very, very difficult to prove. So I think they need re-educating. The only reason that
00:49Oli understood my case is because he went through every single crime report that was ever reported
00:56and he mapped out the pattern of my ex's behaviour. So he took time to understand
01:02rather than just jump into conclusions and see me as a time waster.
01:05Kent Police say they are committed to ensuring victims of domestic abuse
01:10receive the highest possible level of service and that they have made significant improvements
01:16in their approach to tackling domestic violence since Katie made her last report to them back in
01:222017. Now Katie has decided to take action into her own hands with a new app designed to protect
01:30women from domestic violence. Obviously, with the support that I wasn't given and what I needed,
01:35I then started exploring how technology could help other people in my situation.
01:39So for me, I had Spyro on my phone. My house was bugged. The panic alarm just wasn't fit for
01:45purpose. If you speak to other domestic abuse victims, they will refuse to have a panic alarm
01:50installed because it's a big red button. And so I wanted to start, I started exploring technology
01:56and how we could help other women in my situation, which is why I built AskJone.
02:00Using smart meters, the app turns regular household appliances into silent panic alarms
02:07that can alert emergency contacts and the authorities.
02:11It works. It's basically, you can raise an alarm without making a sound.
02:16That is the core thing for me. So it's already live with 18 women. And one of them said to me,
02:23it's like, I felt like I was in an invisible prison, but now I can see my escape.
02:27With plans to visit Parliament in the new year, Katie hopes more local authorities
02:32will roll out AskJone. The decorations may be up, but the work is far from over.
02:39Oliver Leeds the sacks for KMTV.