The article mentions that the founder (a woman) couldn't find enough time to spend with her kids during Covid due to work pressures and came up with this policy.

But about your point, caution such as your stepbrother mentioned is common in lots of parts of the world with crime problems. I was in California for some time and when I got there I was shocked to be told by my neighbors that I shouldn't walk around outside the apartment building after 9pm, even as a guy (but driving and even biking was ok). The Citizen app gave ample evidence of why. Earlier, during my college years (also in US but in the midwest), the school pretty much said female students should avoid walking lone outside campus after 10pm and offered a hotline that would bring a male guardian to walk anyone home. I found out later that college towns in the US are notoriously crime-prone as there are lots of distracted, innocent kids walking around for criminals to prey on – they even come in from other cities for the opportunity. This doesn't apply to everywhere in the US of course.