Extended reality company JUICE Immersive has launched a new virtual reality (VR) training platform which aims to help frontline rail staff recognise, respond to and report incidents of Violence & Intimidation Against Women and Girls.
EMBODY, Be The Change was developed through the Innovate UK/Department for Transport’s (DfT) First of a Kind innovation programme, and co-designed with rail operators, safeguarding specialists, immersive learning experts and policing partners. JUICE Immersive said it was a practical and scalable learning solution tailored to operational railway environments.
The company said that violence & Intimidation Against Women and Girls was one of the rail industry’s most significant safeguarding priorities – adding that while frontline staff are often the first to identify concerning behaviour or intervene safely, traditional classroom based training cannot always replicate the complexity and pressure of real life situations.
EMBODY was designed to address this challenge, placing learners inside authentic, trauma-informed 360 degree VR rail scenarios where they can safely practise decision making, intervention and reporting before encountering these situations in their day to day roles.
The programme guides learners through realistic scenarios that focus on three core stages of safeguarding:
- Recognising behaviours and early warning signs.
- Responding safely and appropriately through effective intervention.
- Reporting incidents accurately to support survivors and strengthen safeguarding outcomes.
Each scenario provides interactive decision points and structured debriefs that reinforce survivor-centred practice while allowing learners to reflect on the impact of their choices in a psychologically safe environment.
JUICE Immersive said the programme had demonstrated strong results during pilot evaluations involving frontline rail and safeguarding professionals from organisations including Greater Anglia, Northern, TransPennine Express, British Transport Police and DfT.
Evaluation found:
- 95 per cent of participants reported they could provide better support to survivors after completing the training.
- 100 per cent intended to apply the learning within their day to day role.
- 100 per cent found the scenarios relevant to their work.
- 87.5 per cent believed EMBODY was ready for implementation.
- Twenty of 25 learning measures showed significant improvement following training.
Commenting on the launch, Owen, Co-Founder & Creative Director, JUICE Immersive, said: “EMBODY has been co-designed and developed with UK rail partners and British Transport Police to give frontline rail teams the opportunity to practise responding to complex safeguarding situations in a realistic, immersive environment before they encounter them in real life. By combining interactive, immersive technology with trauma-informed learning design, we’re helping staff build the confidence, judgement and skills they need to recognise, respond and report effectively when it matters most.
“This is the start of what will go on to become a much bigger piece of work, hand in hand with the industry to really leverage immersive training to tackle this huge issue of violence and intimidation against women and girls.”
Detective Chief Inspector Nia Mellor, British Transport Police, said: “Virtual reality training builds confidence, empathy and situational judgement, ultimately supporting a more proactive, consistent, and survivor-centred response across the rail network.
“Together, we are challenging the norm, amplifying survivor voices, building trauma-informed confidence on the front line, and rewriting what safety looks and feels like for every woman who travels or works across the rail network.
“This is more than a partnership, it’s a collective movement to create railways where women and girls are not only protected, but empowered.”
EMBODY Be The Change was originally developed and funded by DfT through the First of a Kind 2025 competition delivered by Innovate UK, led by Juice Immersive and in partnership with Maudsley Learning, Oxfordshire Community Rail Partnership and Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse.
EMBODY is available through flexible annual subscription packages designed to support organisations of all sizes. The platform can be deployed using existing VR hardware or delivered as a fully managed solution, including headsets, bespoke scenario development and ‘Train the Trainer’ support.
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