Despite more and more of us championing equality and acceptance than ever before, sexism is still a huge problem. It makes life, work, and social interactions more difficult for countless people every single day, and when it happens it’s so often in a private or personal setting that victims rarely get the immediate support they need. A new app called Whistle is hoping to change that by giving everyone the power to report incidents of sexism, and giving everyone a safe place to share their experiences and get friendly advice.
“When you whistle, you help increase awareness and understanding about the sexism people face every day,” the app’s creator, InHerSight, explains. “The big and small things that so many of us see, hear, or experience and wish we could do something about.” The app is geared towards women, who still make considerably less money than men who are hired for the same jobs and who account for nearly 75% of all workplace harassment claims. However, men are still welcome to make their own Whistle reports when they witness examples of sexism.
The app is super easy to use; just download it and start it up. There’s no account to create or login nonsense, and you’re instantly able to submit a report from anywhere. Whistle uses your location to organize the reports into general areas, and when you browse posts submitted by other users you’ll be able to choose whether you want to see the full stream from everyone using the app or just reports from people nearby. When you submit an incident of sexism you pick a category, which can be anything from stereotyping and discrimination to double standards and objectification. You’ll also choose where you witnessed it, whether it was at work or home, or even online or in the media.
When you’re scrolling through reports from other Whistle users you can show your support with likes and comments, which usually lead to really fantastic discussions, advice, and overall friendliness. Whistle is free to download and use, and it’s currently available on iOS with an Android version still in the works.