On Tuesday a Wilmington-based technology company will take the stage at the “End Violence Against Women International" conference in Orlando. Ten8Tech will introduce Victim Link, a new product which makes reporting a sexual assault less unpleasant for victims.
Wilmington-based Ten8Tech, which was founded five years ago by a retired police officer, has made a name for itself with its patented technology that enables two-way dialogue aimed at simplifying communication between citizens and agencies.
Ten8Tech’s founder and president, Anthony Formhals, partnered with the non-profit End Violence Against Women International or EVAWI, after he attended their annual meeting last year, and learned something about sexual assault.
“But then I learned a lot about the problem. What really shocked me was that, at best, only 20% of victims will ever report to law enforcement.”
Ten8Tech got to work with EVAWI, to develop a tool to make it less daunting for rape victims to learn their rights, so more will report the incident. In turn, Formhals says, it may lower the number of re-offenders.
“What Victim Link does, is it connects victims of sexual assault with the resources they need, based on their desires. So it gives the person who connects with the platform the ability to understand what options are available to them. If they want to connect with a victim advocate they can, if they want to report into law enforcement it provides that mechanism. And it’s all done through Seek and Speak, which is the public-facing side of Victim Link.”
The new technology, which is available at seekthenspeak.com, will be unveiled April 18 in Orlando. The app is free to download and use.
Learn more about End Violence Against Women International