Chatbots as Lifelines for Domestic Violence Survivors

This information was sourced from "Artificial Intelligence in Action: Selected ADB Initiatives in Asia and the Pacific," Asian Development Bank, 2024, https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/963831/artificial-intelligence-action-asia-pacific.pdf. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO (CC BY 3.0 IGO).

COVID-19 triggered a viral pandemic, but its impact went beyond health: data also showed a surge in domestic violence cases against women and girls since the pandemic started. Mongolia, where approximately one in three women have experienced domestic violence at some point in their lives, was not spared from this troubling trend. Police reports from Ulaanbaatar alone reflected a 63% increase in reported domestic violence cases in the first quarter of 2020, as compared to the first quarter of 2019. The increase in the number of distress calls strained the dedicated national domestic violence 107 hotline, which could only take a limited number of calls at a time. The police hotlines were also inundated with calls, both domestic violence-and non-domestic violence-related, during lockdowns, which was a barrier for domestic violence survivors to seek help. While some nongovernment organizations (NGOs) also had their own domestic violence helplines, these were only operational during regular work hours. This was an issue especially considering that the number of distress calls came between evening and dawn. Collectively, the police-and NGO-run helplines reported a 19% and 30% increase in calls, respectively, during the quarantine period.

Despite the increase in calls, it is likely that more cases were unreported. Consultations with police and women revealed that many of the survivors chose to remain silent instead of seeking help because they were afraid of the possible consequences of reporting. These included losing economic stability in cases when the abuser is the household’s breadwinner, possible reprisal, and backlash and social stigma after reporting. In addition, the movement restrictions brought by the pandemic limited the options available to survivors to seek help—as well as service providers to offer help—since the lockdown forced vulnerable family members to stay under the same roof as their abusers. ADB, through its pioneering TA Addressing and Preventing Domestic Violence in Mongolia during the COVID-19 Crisis, worked with the National Legal Institute (NLI) and the National Center Against Violence (NCAV), a local NGO, to provide a continuum of care for survivors in support of the country’s landmark law on combating domestic violence. This marked the first time ADB helped increase the access of affected individuals to support services and prevent domestic violence during a crisis. The TA covered the development of digital tools to complement the existing technology infrastructure, such as hotlines, to provide more options for survivors to get help and lighten the load of the stretched police force. NCAV was already providing domestic violence services for many years but needed the digital platform to expand its services and reach more survivors and families during the pandemic.

Anduub Lab LLC, a local information technology (IT) company, was engaged to develop an AI-powered chatbot service. Given the sensitive nature of the cases, an interdisciplinary team of gender, IT, legal, and communication experts was formed. The team used the results of consultations with domestic violence survivors and frontline workers, such as counselors and police, to develop the content that was fed to the chatbot service to ensure that the information was accurate and relevant to those seeking help. Stakeholder inputs also ensured that the chatbots reflected the language, terms, and contexts of the survivors to improve usability and care-seeking experience.

Subsequently, two chatbots, one for NCAV and one for NLI, were launched in April 2021 to offer users an expanded platform to safely get the information and services at the times they were needed most. The chatbots helped break down the barriers that prevent domestic violence survivors from seeking help by giving options for anonymity. Confidentiality and data privacy were major considerations to protect the identities of those who used the chatbots. The NCAV chatbot provided information and services to ensure that domestic violence survivors were provided with a continuum of care, while the NLI chatbot provided legal information and gave referrals. Both chatbots were accessible on Facebook because consultations with the domestic violence survivors revealed high usage of the social media platform. The chatbots also had a mobile texting function to reach those who were based in rural areas and had limited internet connection.

The chatbot services also provided survivors with options for more in-depth, live counseling as needed. ADB covered the operational expenses of NCAV’s live counselors who provided psychosocial and legal counseling for survivors who needed human conversation.

Survivors and families needing rescue and safe spaces were referred by the NCAV chatbot and live counselors to domestic violence shelters and one-stop service centers. Survivors continued to use the chatbot service even after rescue because they came to see these digital tools as their support system to move forward with their lives.

Behavior change communication was an essential part of the continuum of care for survivors. A national multimedia campaign promoted the chatbots and their services and raised awareness about prevention and the many forms of domestic violence. The chatbots were equipped with information and services to change the behaviors of domestic violence survivors, from tolerating abuse as normal, to reporting, seeking support, and being economically independent. Providers were also trained to provide more sensitive first-response communication and handling of cases.

By the end of the project in December 2022, NLI and NCAV received a total of 2,892 calls from over 3,000 users because of the chatbot service. An average of 14 new people used the chatbots between November and December 2022, when the media campaign was ramped up. The NCAV chatbot alone received calls from 1,187 new users (70.6% women, 24% men), while the NLI chatbot received 1,705 calls (68.2% women, 31.3% men) by December 2022. A total of 26 women and 16 children were rescued because of the chatbot service, while around 30% of the chatbot users were referred for in-depth psychosocial and legal services. The project endline showed that 90% of the users of the chatbot service reported that they were satisfied with receiving online domestic violence support and service.

The Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs has secured funding to continue supporting the chatbot services, while NCAV expressed its commitment to continue offering its services.