Death of paris student: what is ‘the sorority’ app that sent alert?

A new app designed to improve women’s safety is gaining interest in France in the wake of the death of Philippine, a 19-year-old student whose body was found buried in a Paris wood on

September 21. The Economics student was last seen at a restaurant at the Paris Dauphine university on September 20, and was reported missing that evening after she failed to appear at her

parents’ house in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. A day later, her body was found partially buried in the Bois de Boulogne in the 16th arrondissement. Investigations are ongoing and no arrests

have been made. Read also: Body of missing student found buried in Paris wood  Family and friends began searching in the woods after the student’s mobile phone was geolocalised to that

location. Her family and friends also launched an alert through women’s safety app The Sorority, but Philippine herself had not been a member. The app has now sent out a message on X

(Twitter), saying “our thoughts go out to Philippine, her family, and her loved ones…we would like to thank everyone who mobilised and shared the information. We will do our best to keep you

updated on the upcoming marches, actions, and vigils organised in her name. Thank you for being here, we take care of each other. Together.” > On ne lâchera rien. > Si vous souhaitez 

laisser un message à la famille et aux proches de > Philippine, nous laissons les commentaires ouverts et leur > transmettrons. >  > Prenons soin de nous. Ensemble. >  > —

>  > We will continue to act.⁰If you would like to leave a message for > Philippine’s… pic.twitter.com/Tb7l4J98Kf > — THE SORORITY (@jointhesorority) September 23, 2024 WHAT IS

THE SORORITY APP? The free Sorority app allows members to send an alert to the 50 closest other members if they feel unsafe or at risk. The location of the member is identified via the

phone’s GPS. Once Philippine’s family and friends had raised the alarm, the app sent out a “wanted notice following her worrying disappearance to support her family and try to find her as

quickly as possible”, it confirmed. However, it added that because Philippine was not a member of the app, no alert had been sent at the exact (as yet unknown) time of her disappearance. ‘WE

HELP PEOPLE’ App founder Priscillia Routier-Trillard explains that once members receive an alert from another user, they can “either call the person directly, or send them a message

suggesting that they notify the police or gendarmerie, or join them on the spot, pretending to know them, without ever putting themselves in danger”. “We help people in the street, on public

transport, in the office, at school, in the evening, at festivals or at home,” she said. In March, one 18-year-old member said she had used the app after being followed in the street. She

told AFP: “As soon as I pressed the alert button, I received a dozen texts and calls. In the end, one of the members joined me and gave me a lift home in her car.” Sometimes simply receiving

a call from someone and talking to them is enough to “diffuse the situation”, members have said. In another example, one user wrote: “Hello, all is well, I was being followed outside by

three men but I managed to get home safely [and] I was happy to be put in contact with many women around me, I was reassured and able to chat with someone while I was getting home.” > 

Reçu vendredi dernier ❤️ Protégée grâce à THE SORORITY. > Bravo à toi. Bravo à elles. Bravo à vous 🫂 À nous. Ensemble > ✊💞 >  > On continue. On unit nos forces. > On assure 

notre sécurité et notre bien-être.  > À tout moment. > Ensemble. Partout. Maintenant.#jointhesorority > pic.twitter.com/sQPl3woGLS > — THE SORORITY (@jointhesorority) September 

14, 2024 POLICE PARTNERSHIP The Sorority app currently has 115,000 users, founder Ms Routier-Trillard states, and works in partnership with the police to “raise awareness of our tool among

police officers and gendarmes through training courses”. "When a person in a situation of domestic violence is unable to contact the authorities directly, they raise the alarm on the

app. If they agree, we transmit all the information to the [emergency number] 17 for immediate intervention,” said Ms Routier-Trillard. Interior Minister Charlotte Huntz told FranceInfo: “To

ensure that The Sorority system is effective, our staff have been made aware of the need for immediate intervention.” Visuals of the app are displayed in all police stations, to raise

awareness. APP USERS “In Paris, there are 17,000 users, so there are people available just one street away,” Ms Routier-Trillard said. There are also an increasing number of users in rural

areas. Women can join The Sorority from the age of 12 with parental consent, although 73% of users are aged between 18 and 35. The average age of members is 30, the app states. Users are

required to take a selfie in real time and provide proof of identity to join the community, with profiles then being verified before the application is confirmed. The app is also available

to French citizens abroad, in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is also available in 13 other languages including English. “Thousands of kilometres away from our loved

ones, we [may be] completely dependent on a violent person, who may also be an employer,” said Ms Routier-Trillard. “Our application is available worldwide and translated into 13 languages.

Even local populations can use it.” SIMILAR APPS The Sorority is not the only application of its kind to work with the police.  Another such example is a free app called Umay, which lists

“safe places” for users (men and women) in case they feel threatened and need somewhere to go. This includes 3,200 gendarmeries and 600 police stations, but also 6,000 other establishments,

including bars, restaurants, shops and other institutions. During the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the app also developed a partnership with national lottery operator and

official Olympics partner La Française des Jeux to label many local bars, tabacs, and newsagents as “safe places”.  It also provided training courses for staff “on how to deal with

situations of aggression, and in particular sexist and sexual violence”.