CARE
Connect Adapt Reach Empower
Stage 1
Develop an MVP and brainstorm with tech professionals and anti-trafficking organisations on needs and solutions.
Stage 2
Develop a mobile app with all the communication features needed for survivors to access help and allow connecting with mental health professionals.
Stage 3
Start the pilot with anti-trafficking organizations and conduct user experience research.
Stage 4
Review, Adapt, Improve.
Make it available for all anti-trafficking organizations
Why is this necessary
In 2020 we saw the struggle most organizations were facing due to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic and the world taking a digital shift.
In the field of human trafficking, while traffickers have been able to adapt quickly to technological changes, organizations providing support for the survivors have been struggling to keep up.
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For survivors, access to most support services has been more complicated when not entirely shut down.
In many cases, survivors face additional challenges, such as:
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- They do not speak the same language as their caseworkers, so all interactions need to include an interpreter.
- They do not always know how to read or write, so communicating via text can be difficult.
- Survivors might have low digital skills and not be familiar with technology or how to use it effectively.
- They might have specific disabilities that limit whether and to what extent they can access and use technology.
For example, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has been scientifically shown to impact the ways in which a person uses technology.
- If technology is not designed to include also sensory disabilities, such as blindness or physical disabilities, will not be able to access or use that technology on an equal basis with others.
Next steps
By providing a streamlined and safe communication tool that addresses many of the challenging factors survivors face, including language barriers, disabilities, and technological illiteracy, we will be able to make services more accessible worldwide, and allow communication to flow in ways that are much more adapted to the specific needs of the survivors of human trafficking.
We have an MVP of the product and we are currently applying for funding to develop such an important tool.
The required funding for the next stage of development is 428 000 NOK.