Undercover Assistance: Designing a Disguised App to Navigate Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment remains a critical safety concern for many women. Despite extensive discussions within the HCI community on technological solutions to address harassment, prior research has primarily focused on cyber harassment, with relatively fewer studies addressing design interventions to assist women during incidents of sexual harassment in physical spaces. To this end, we conducted a survey with 106 women who have experienced sexual harassment, aiming to identify common contexts of occurrence and the coping strategies employed. The survey revealed that social gatherings, such as parties, are the most frequent settings for sexual harassment. Coping strategies varied based on the relationship with the assailant; only 6% of respondents would call 911 when harassed by an acquaintance, compared to 19% when harassed by a stranger. The most common strategy involved pretending to have an urgent matter and leaving the scene, followed by contacting friends for assistance. However, many participants expressed fear of escalating the situation by provoking the perpetrator. Drawing from these insights, we propose the design of a disguised app that mimics a social media app, thus reducing suspicion while using an app in close proximity to the perpetrator. The app includes multiple functionalities recommended by survey participants: 1) triggering a fake call from a male voice, 2) sharing location and discreetly chatting with friends, 3) recording, and 4) an emergency alarm. This paper discusses how these design features address the challenges of safely navigating sexual harassment incidents.