Now, smartphone app to report sexual harassment

A new smartphone app that can enable people to report sexual harassment on the streets within seconds has been launched in the US.

The app launched in New York enables victims to instantly send information on where, when and how they were harassed to the City Council and the mayor's office.

Using the app, victims of harassment can send the information anonymously to the authorities.

The information is then compiled and added to a digital map of where in the city harassment has been occurring, 'New York Daily News' reported.

A purple flag appears over each spot indicating the area where an incident has been reported.

An earlier version of the app already compiled anecdotal information on harassment incidents, but did not collect quantitative data like addresses, demographics, and specifics of the incidents in a systematic way.

However, the app did not have an option to send the report to the City Council and the mayor's office, a feature that makes the new version especially empowering.

"With this new tool, New York City will be the first city to undertake an effort to gather the data needed to understand the scope of street harassment," City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, unveiling the app - produced by a nonprofit organisation called Hollaback - said.