Pretoria - As victims of gender-based violence are often isolated from friends, family and anyone else willing to help, developers have officially launched Chomi to become the bridge to connect them to much-needed help.
With the eyes of the country firmly on the second national Presidential Summit on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide held at Gallagher Estate in Midrand, various organisations have come up with innovative solutions to help assist in fighting the prevailing scourge.
This year's summit is centred around the theme: "Accountability, Acceleration and Amplification, NOW!"
While the various organisations and stakeholders gather for the two-day summit to map out solutions to fighting the scourge, community-based health provider Shout-it-Now said it would also shine the spotlight on the role that technology could play in helping survivors of gender-based violence.
To demonstrate the power of technology the organisation said it had launched a new free WhatsApp-based chatbot service called Chomi in August ahead of the summit.
Chomi according to the group was an engaging, bot that provided information and advice backed by experts to assist and guide victims of abuse.
The easy-to-use bot also offers service referrals to survivors of gender-based violence or people who wish to assist victims who come knocking on their door for help.
In a bid to make it easier to use, Chomi was reportedly multilingual and offers assistance in English and IsiZulu, whilst the addition of Setswana and IsiXhosa were, according to the group, under development and scheduled to be launched this month.
Christianne Wendler, a strategic advisor for Shout-it-Now, said that more than 640 messages were built into the chatbot to empower survivors, and friends of survivors, through cited knowledge and anonymous support.
Wendler said in order to make Chomi accessible to people from all walks of life, the chatbot was conversational, easy to understand and offered practical insights via nine streams which included, contacts for emergency assistance, GBV information and frequently asked questions, how to report violence, and what to do if a person has been raped.
In addition, it also offers counselling support, legal assistance, safety planning, where to find women’s shelters, and how victims can connect to support services.
To use Chomi, users can simply save 082 229 6251 to their cellphone and message ‘hi’ to start a conversation on WhatsApp and follow the prompts to access the information they need.
Pretoria News