By Shameem Shakat-Hussain (Operations Director of Muslim Women's Network UK)

Last week marked 3 years since Fawziyah Javed and her unborn baby were murdered by her husband, Kashif Anwar, on 2^nd September 2021, just two days prior to her birthday. On 4^th September 2024, Fawziyah would have celebrated her 35^th birthday. As the Operations Director of Muslim Women’s Network UK, I can confidently state that she has not and will not be forgotten!

Fawziyah was an inspiration to others, a bubbly kind soul, and also spent time volunteering with us at MWNUK. She was a successful lawyer and mother-to-be before she was tragically murdered. I truly cannot imagine the heartache her mother, Yasmin Javed, must be going through and commend her for the courage she has had in continuing to raise awareness about domestic abuse and Fawziyah’s story. Recently, Yasmin Javed welcomed the unveiling of a memorial bench located at Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh in honour of her daughter and stated that the bench 'would be a lasting tribute to "all women" killed by abusive partners.'

The MWNUK team and I stand with Yasmin in making sure that Fawziyah’s story is not forgotten, which is why MWNUK have developed and officially launched ‘Amal’, a safety mobile phone app for women in honour and memory of Fawziyah Javed. The app contains a section that is dedicated to sharing her story and forms of abuse she endured during her marriage. We hope that by including Fawziyah’s story in the Amal app and providing essential information, it will help women better understand the situations they might be in and seek help, in order to potentially save lives.

I think in a world where technology and smart devices dominate society, it is important that women who need advice and information about issues can seek it in an easy, safe and accessible way (without for example having to make a google search or a phone call), which is why MWNUK created the safety app. Ultimately, the app aims to offer hope so that women can feel empowered by seeking help and knowledge that is vital in breaking the cycle of abuse. Therefore, the app was named ‘Amal’, which has multiple meanings in Arabic, including hope. The logo itself was also designed in a way that looks neutral and discrete with the intention that it won’t be interpreted as a safety app by others.

I’ll now share more details about the features of the app which have been designed to support victims by helping them to identify various types of abuse, offering safety advice, enabling incident logging, and providing information on available support, including legal remedies. For women concerned about their communications being monitored, the app also allows contact with the Muslim Women's Network Helpline. My favourite feature is where you can record incidents, similar to a diary, in which you are able to upload videos, audios and photos with the date and time – this is a unique feature not offered by any other similar apps.

There are four main features to the Amal Safety app:

• Home: here you will see five coloured tabs labels - type of abuse, legal rights & safety, mental health, diary, and contact helpline. There is also a navigation button (three lines) where there is an option to log out.
• Diary: here you can add incidents of abuse. This is only for you to record and view. Once you have recorded the incident, there is an option to send an email to MWN Helpline to share this incident. You can also edit and delete any log.
• Contact: this will take you to a ‘contact us’ page where you can send an email to MWN Helpline and via message history.
• Settings: you can access account information, option to turn on/off notifications, as well as deleting account option.

Some of the issues included in the Amal Safety app are: domestic abuse, sexual abuse, forced marriage, honour-based abuse, intimate-image abuse, spiritual abuse, hate crime, trafficking, tech abuse and more. Explanations of different types of abuse are provided so that women are better able to recognise the abuse they might be experiencing. Other topics included within the app are a tab on mental health so that information on topics such as anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicide can be accessed. Additionally, there is also information for marriage, divorce and spouses from abroad.

Amal Safety App has been launched on Apple Store, by typing in 'Amal safety' the app should appear at the topic of the list. For android users, you are able to download this app from the website while we work on making the app more easily available for Androids. This is a new app so we would appreciate any feedback on your experience navigating the app, any technical issues with the app or any other general feedback you may have.

I would like to thank Comic Relief who funded the development of the Amal Safety app.

Please also see the MWNUK media statement regarding the official launch of the app.