The Coalition For Women In Journalism is thrilled to announce the launch of our JSafe app for journalists. The app allows journalists to communicate and document threats or risks as they encounter and possibly will help them access safety resources and logistics available.

The CFWIJ worked with the Reynolds Institute of Journalism at the University of Missouri for almost two years to develop this app with a secure and effective service. JSafe app is now available in beta versions on both Android and iOS and can be downloaded directly from iTunes or Android stores.

“JSafe’s core purpose is to address the massive issue of sexual and professional harassment, online trolling and physical threats that women journalists face,” said our founding director Kiran Nazish. “The app’s accessibility will allow women journalists and journalists in general to be able to report unsafe incidents, including threats, violations, attacks or abuse that they face in the line of work. Often these violations are hard to solve because of the lack of tracking and reporting. We hope that using this app will allow journalists to access various resources such as community support, documentation of necessary evidence that could help them in accessing better resources as well as legal support. JSafe will serve as a power tool to connect journalists to help.”

JSafe is an application that can be used by journalists and media workers from all over the world, but particular tools are carefully developed into the app that will especially benefit women journalists, who encounter various threats on a daily basis. In the ever changing world, online threats make up the majority of “visible” threats against women journalists, however other types of threats such as sexual harassment and workplace harassment often times go unnoticed or unreported. The lack of documentation of these issues also create a bottleneck in helping support groups and resources reach the most vulnerable of journalists. 

JSafe app helps journalists by making it possible to document and report any form of threat or violence that one may encounter in the field. The app can be used to document threats or attacks as they are happening. It can also be used to record an incident that may have happened in the past but is previously unreported. 

Our founder Kiran Nazish explained how the idea of JSafe app came about: “Over the last three years we have been documenting threats women journalists face in the exercise of their profession. We have received a lot of feedback from women reporters and we continue to do our best to support women journalists. With this application, we hope that we will be able to provide an important tool to every woman journalist around the world in order to report a violation, threat, harassment and help when necessary. We aim to use JSafe as a tool to strengthen the support system between women journalists.”

JSafe allows the user to add any relevant piece of information on a threat or attack that they have experienced. Users can add photo and video evidence alongside text notes and can also request a follow-up while submitting their information so that a representative from CFWIJ can touch base with them later. 

The beta test version of the application has a simple and user-friendly interface. During the app's testing phase, people can easily navigate the app, report a complaint or a threat to them, and email CFWIJ to share more details about the issue.

If you want to help women journalists around the world to perform their duties in a safer environment, all you need to do is fill out a form to become a beta tester for JSafe. 

For more information, head over to the iStore and Google Play to take a look at the app.