Aiming to advance the existing 914 emergency hotline, 21-year-old Maryam Bacchus demonstrated the usage of HelpBot, a new digital interface for the Human Services and Social Security Ministry’s Imatter app, on Saturday at We Lift 3.
In March, Bacchus represented Guyana at the United Nations (UN) Commission on the Status on Women Youth Forum where she highlighted the progress the country has made in promoting gender equality through technology and innovation in past years.
Maryam Bacchus
The 914 toll-free hotline was launched by the Human Services Ministry in 2020 to respond to victims of domestic abuse at any time of the day.
In conducting research, however, Bacchus found several gaps in the currently existing hotline: some of the information is not easily accessible as making calls during a true emergency can be challenging, some persons who use the number may not be able to hear or speak and some may not be able to read or write.
“HelpBot is a revolutionary new tool that brings out the full potential of chatbots and WhatsApp, it is the first of its kind and it is fully accessible and addresses all the problems I just listed,” Bacchus said.
“HelpBot caters for those that can’t read or write, persons who can’t talk or see. HelpBot has buttons so that you don’t even need to type,” Bacchus explained.
The new digital interface adds to the hotline response available on the Imatter app, which was launched in 2022 to offer assistance and resources related to gender-based violence (GBV) to individuals in need across the country.
In demonstrating how the app works, Bacchus showed that when an individual messages the hotline number, they are greeted by a WhatsApp chatbot that associates itself with the Human Services and Social Security Ministry and are then given three options to choose from: Help and Danger, Safety Watch List and Information Section.
If an individual was to select the Information Section, they are directed to further options including information on the 914 hotline, counselling programmes for survivors of abuse and free shelters for survivors.
“All you need to do is click on the button and you got the information plus it was annotated for you so persons who can’t read have access to the information right there,” Bacchus said. “Information a click away.”
If an individual were to select the Help and Danger option, Bacchus demonstrated, they will be directed to send their location or pin their location by clicking the paperclip or plus icon next to their message box and choosing their location.
“You have successfully submitted your live location. Your report has been submitted to a first responder and you will be contacted shortly,” HelpBot responds after receiving a location.
“First responders are the persons responding to these incidents so we created the dashboard for them,” Bacchus explained. “This dashboard has all the statistics and information that the first responder may need to respond to a problem.”
Bacchus added that there is also a map of all the locations of where incidents occur that can be viewed by the first responder in a list format.
“How will we take charge of our statistics?” Bacchus posed to attendees. “Let me remind you what those statistics are: 55 per cent of women in Guyana suffer some form of abuse and 75 per cent of those cases go unreported.”
Persaud commended Bacchus on conceptualising the interface. “That young woman designed that app in one day and saved me thousands of US dollars [and] she said to me, ‘I don’t want anything for it, I want to give it to the Ministry for the work it does,’” Persaud said.
“[This will] fill a very important gap in what we have for the Imatter app which gives you all the resources you need in digital format,” Persaud said. “These gaps will be filled shortly and we will have the kind of mega response we need to [address] the very concerning issue of violence.”
