Discussion List for campus-based and allied personnel working to end gender-based violence on campus.

[John Foubert <>]

Dear Mr. Benz,

I appreciate knowing about your app.  To be honest, I appreciate knowing so that I can warn others not to use it.  It seems to me that it could likely be used by perpetrators -- who may be in and then out of a relationship with a survivor -- to stalk them more effectively.  I do hope you will abandon this venture, and find another area of focus.  Though I don't know your intention in this regard, I am deeply troubled by the efforts of so many recently to make money off of women's pain by inserting themselves into a movement where many of us have been trying to make a difference on a non-profit level for many years if not decades.  I see your app is free, so that is one thing you have going for your I suppose; though I imagine it would be monetized in some fashion.  At any rate, please reconsider your approach, and what I believe to be your misguided attempt to help.  

Sincerely,

John D. Foubert, Ph.D.

National President, One in Four

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John D. Foubert, Ph.D., LLC

405-338-8046 (c)
http://works.bepress.com/john_foubert/

On Wed, Aug 5, 2015 at 1:50 PM, Aaron Benz <> wrote:

Hey One in Four,

My name is Aaron Benz and I am the Founder of an app called Zync Up that is live in the app store (about to release another big update). Zync Up overall is focused on each person's world and understanding it better, but I am currently focussed on one aspect of it which is temporarily sharing location. My target audience is millennials and in particular, college students. Basically, I was getting tired of how many times I asked the question "Where are you?" and wanted to create a much more elegant way to answer it. I did. And to get it out there, my focus in on this upcoming school year to do a proof a concept by allowing students to stay connected with each other when they go out or when they want to meet up. Over the last couple weeks, I realized that the perfect use case for this was women, hugely in part because of their traditionally communal nature aka they like to go out in groups, but inevitably people get separated from the group and its so difficult to find each other once that happens. 

As I was digging more into this issue, I came across some of your research and others, and I was absolutely shocked by the numbers that I saw. I was also struck by how applicable this problem is when utilized within Zync Up. That is, there are wonderful organizations for recover of rape, and you guys have created a great organization to enlighten kids to the prevent rape, but there is not really an active tool that they can use throughout the night to prevent circumstances that make it possible. 

By looking at some of the stats, I thought it was interesting that just the presence of a bystander reduced the risk by 44%. Additionally, the risk raises greatly for women in social settings especially including alcohol. Zync Up may be a great way to encourage millennials to have fun, but more importantly, it provides them an active tool for them to look out for one another. That is, if a girl gets separated from the group, she can easily find her group with a glance, or the group her with a glance. 

Anyways, I thought I would reach out to see if using Zync Up as a tool to help prevent rape by actively looking out for one another and promoting group safety is of any interest to what you are doing on college campuses.

I'd love to set up some time to talk and learn more about what you're doing and how Zync Up could help.

Best,
Aaron

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Aaron Benz

502.432.0452