Spring ACT- a helping chatbot for abuse survivors
- tulipanedesign
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
I discovered a great new tool that is available everywhere in the world so I wanted to share with you the details. Spring ACT was created in 2021, with an aim to provide a safe and anonymous way for victims to learn about the signs of abuse, gather information and evidence, and plan their escape. It’s a chatbot named Sophia who is available 24/7 and in every country in the world.
How to use it?
Simply type sophia.chat into a smartphone or computer browser and start chatting directly. Using the information on the webpage, you can also use WhatsApp, Telegram, or Viber. A video chat option is available for users with low literacy.
The automated chatbot explains that it can help in three ways:
· providing information on available support,
· chatting about relationships, and
· storing potential evidence.
Guiding the person in need
A sentence that Sophia writes is, for example, “If you’re feeling alone, know that there are many people out there ready and waiting to help you.”
“Sophia guides you to learn what constitutes a healthy relationship, what are signs of abuse, what can you do if you want to escape,” the Founder of the chatbot explains. “The main aim is to guide the person to a support service, to a human that is there to help them. It lowers the threshold to do so.”
Storing evidence for proof
The chatbot helps people collect evidence, such as photos of bruises or screenshots of abusive messages and store it on an innovative digital safe. The safe is encrypted and accessed via an image within which Sophia hides a password using steganography.
“The password needs to be extremely secure, because it’s hosting the most sensitive data of potential evidence, police records, health records,” the Founder says. “You can’t write down your password or use a password manager, because you need to hide from the person that might be living with you.”
As soon as you close the window, Sophia should rewrite your browser history and replaces the page with an untraceable decoy website.
What is the impact so far?
It’s difficult to measure the chatbot’s impact, since users are anonymous. Spring ACT knows that, since late 2021, people from 143 countries have visited sophia.chat, and more than 30 000 of them have chatted with Sophia.
The Team
Spring ACT consists of a core team and some 80 volunteers, all working from home. Domestic abuse survivors are represented at every level of the organisation, ensuring that Sophia responds properly to victims’ needs.
While the chatbot is available everywhere — providing practical advice, the digital safe, and the contact information of national organisations — the company has “launched” it in four countries, meaning it provides more specific local information in these locations.
Expanding this service and offering precise information in every country is an enormous task, not to mention keeping it up to date. Spring ACT will never charge survivors to use its service, but funding and capacity are serious issues.
The company had some financial support from the EIB, which represents half the company’s annual budget, to build the team and capacity.
What about the future?
At the same time, Spring ACT is building additional tools. The next one, “ComebackCatZ,” aims to give people with imposter syndrome more confidence and tackles everyday sexism through witty comebacks. Geared to a different audience, it will include some free services and then charge for other features, and subscriptions will help support survivors of domestic violence.
With each tool it creates, Spring ACT uses technology to empower individuals and help eliminate social injustices.
Why is this name?
When the company had to come up with its own name, “ACT” was an obvious choice. Company members then suggested “Spring,” but the Founder resisted using her surname, pointing out that “I have a team, it’s not just me.” Finally, she recalls, “My mom said, you don’t own the season.’ And that is why we used spring—it’s the season of new beginnings. You might be in a hard situation, but there is hope. Break through that difficult time, that icy ground, and the sun is there, and you can grow.”
Have you already used this chatbot? Was it useful for you?
How do you think it could improve?
Join our discussion on social media https://www.instagram.com/tulipanedesign/.
Cheers,
Edith
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