Mother and son launch app to keep LGBT people safe

Luciana and Nicholas Cousin set up the scheme following their own experiences of feeling unsafe

A mother and son from Brighton have launched an app to help keep members of the LGBTQ+ community safe on nights out.

Luciana and Nicholas Cousin set up the Back Off. Back Up. (BOBU) app and it is currently operating in Brighton.

The technology aims to provide safe spaces, such as bars and restaurants, where users can go if they feel in danger of being attacked.

According to the charity Stonewall, hate crimes on the basis of sexual orientation have increased by 112% in the last five years.

The app shows restaurants and bars where staff have been trained to support people who feel in danger.

Ms Cousin said: "We started the app because of friends who were attacked and too afraid to ask for help."

The pair have plans to expand the scheme into London and Kendal in Cumbria, then the rest of the UK.

Due to their expansion plans, the app is currently being re-developed and will be re-released at the end of March, but can still be used in its current state.

Bars and restaurants that have signed up to the scheme are displaying posters in the window

Mr Cousin, who is gay, said he set up the app because of his own experiences of violence.

"I was an easier target for people when I was younger. I was excluded from things, such as going to parties," he said.

"When I got older, the bullying got worse. It became more aggressive, more physical."

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Ms Cousin, who is also gay, said she wanted her son's experience as a member of the LGBTQ+ community "to be different to mine, but, it wasn't - it was the same."

"People need to be who they are, not who the world expects you to be," she added.