Circle of 6: An App Against Abuse

Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County-- Preventing sexual assault, dating violence, and more?

Now, there's an app for that. It's called 'Circle of 6.'

If you find yourself in a dangerous situation, it can quickly and discreetly contact a pre-programmed group of close friends or family members.

More than 20,000 people have downloaded the new app since it was introduced just a couple weeks ago.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 1 in 5 women will be sexually assaulted during their collegiate years. It's a sobering statistic for students at Kings College in Wilkes-Barre.

Freshman Karley Stasko noted, "You never know when you're going to get into a bad situation. Even just walking through the city-- if I need someone to pick me up, my car breaks down-- it's really helpful."

With just a couple discreet taps on your smartphone, the 'Circle of 6' app will send a message to your pre-programmed group.

You can request they come pick you up-- and a map will be sent to them with your exact location, thanks to GPS technology.

Or you can request that they call you and provide a distraction to get you out of a dicey situation.

Sophomore Chelsea Hamershock said, "It's a great idea, especially for bigger campuses. It gives you the link of where you are. I think that's awesome."

In addition to those features, the new 'Circle of 6' app can be programmed to call campus or local police-- with just a couple of taps.

College students we spoke with say the app could benefit any number of people-- far beyond their own peers.

Stasko continued, "I would recommend it to my little sister who's in high school right now. She's going out with her friends. Even if she's just hanging out, watching a baseball game-- I'd rather her be able to contact me quickly if she needed a ride, no matter what the situation was."

And while most students say they feel very safe on a small campus like Kings-- the app provides a bit of added assurance they call comforting.

Hamershock added, "Here, our campus security is really awesome. They're there in a millisecond. But, we're a campus of 2,500 kids. We're really small. So we don't face a lot of the problems that other schools do."

The 'Circle of 6' app was also the winner of the White House "Apps Against Abuse" Technology Challenge.

You can check out or download the app yourself by visiting www.circleof6app.com.