On 20 May 2026, the Canton of Neuchâtel launched a new public-service tool: a platform that lets people report situations of street harassment. It was built on the Guichet Unique — the canton's single-window online service — and delivered together with the Neuchâtel Police and the Neuchâtel public IT service (SIEN). I had the chance to develop this deliverable, and I wanted to share, at a high level, what it does and why building this kind of tool is a little different from a typical feature.
What the Platform Does
Street harassment — persistent unwanted remarks, intrusive behaviour, sexist or intimidating conduct in public spaces — often goes unreported. Filing a formal police complaint can feel like a high bar for something that happened in a few seconds on the street, so a lot of it simply never gets recorded. The goal of the platform is to lower that bar.
Through the Guichet Unique portal and the mobile apps, anyone can describe a situation they experienced or witnessed. Two paths are offered:
- Anonymous reports — for people who want to document what happened without leaving any contact details.
- Reports with contact information — for people open to a follow-up, where the police commit to getting back in touch within five days.
Importantly, the platform supplements rather than replaces the formal channels: it is not a substitute for a police complaint, and anyone in immediate danger should still call 117. That distinction had to be communicated clearly inside the tool itself.
Why This One Was Different
Most features you build are measured in clicks and conversion. This one is measured in trust. When someone opens a form to report something that may have shaken them, a few things matter more than usual:
- Clarity over cleverness. The flow has to be calm, short, and unambiguous about what happens to the information — especially the difference between an anonymous report and one that invites a response.
- Respecting the choice to stay anonymous. If a person chooses not to identify themselves, that choice has to be honoured end to end, by design.
- Treating sensitive accounts with care. Reports describe real, often difficult experiences. Handling that data responsibly is the whole point of doing this on an official cantonal platform rather than an ad-hoc form.
None of that is glamorous engineering, and that is exactly why it deserves attention. The hardest part of a civic tool like this isn't the technology — it's making something that feels safe enough that people actually use it.
Part of a Bigger Picture
The reports don't just sit in a database. Aggregated and anonymised, they help the authorities see where and how harassment happens, which in turn informs prevention work and how police resources are deployed. The launch was paired with an awareness campaign called Ça s'est passé ici — "it happened here" — placing QR codes on visuals in public spaces, so that the physical place where something occurred becomes a direct entry point to report it. It is a good name: it does in four words what the whole platform is for.
Conclusion
Delivering this platform was a reminder that public-service software is at its best when it disappears: a simple, trustworthy way to be heard, backed by the seriousness of an official channel. It's a small piece of code in the grand scheme of things, but one I'm genuinely proud to have built.
The platform was presented by Councillor of State Céline Vara together with the Neuchâtel Police; the full details are in the canton's press release. The reporting form itself is at guichetunique.ch/signalement.
You can read more about the wider platform on the Guichet Unique project page, and find the app on the App Store and Google Play.