Do Personal Safety Alarms Work?

There's been an explosion of people buying personal safety alarms in the UK, and recently Worcester council gave 5,000 of them in the city centre to help women feel more safe. 

Here at Ashley, we have donated nearly 1,000 and thousands of customers have come to us - buying them for friends, family, runners, dog walkers and children. 

However, the most common question (and rightly so) is, do personal safety alarms work?

What is a Personal Safety Alarm?

A personal safety alarm is a device that, when activated, sets off an alarm and flashing light to attract attention to a situation and alert others nearby to it. 

They are designed to deter attackers and also to alert others if you fall over or hurt yourself.

The Ashley alarm can be heard from 1,000ft away and has a 200 lumen light making it incredibly loud and bright.

Do Personal Safety Alarms Work?

Firstly, we think it's important to highlight that the goal of a personal safety alarm is to shock and deter attackers and reduce the likelihood of an attack. Nothing can make someone 100% safe but taking precautions greatly improves your chances of remaining safe.

No one thing will keep you completely safe but this plus other personal safety tips will help you significantly reduce your risk of being attacked.

The success of a personal safety alarm relies on two things:

1) Being able to disorientate and deter the attacker

2) Other people being able to hear it and to come and help

There is a large part relying on the communities we live in understanding how to help and what they can do - such as calling 999 immediately if they hear or see an attack.

When to use a Personal Safety Alarm

We think you should use it whenever you feel uncomfortable in a situation that could potentially lead to a bad outcome. It's better to use it more regularly than not at all or feel embarrassed to use it. 

It's supposed to draw attention and deter, so if a potential attacker is near - it's better to use it earlier rather than later, it could potentially put them off from attacking. 

We want to make every woman feel that they can use this without the thoughts of being embarrassed or any reluctance to use it - at the end of the day, this is your safety and that is the most important thing to protect. 

Check our blog on how to use a personal safety alarm here