One Tap Away: A chatbot to bridge the service gap in gender-based violence services

One Tap Away is a social innovation project that harnesses chatbot technology to enhance access to gender-based violence services, particularly for young undergraduate students. The project aims to bridge the service gap caused primarily by the discrepancy between social services’ traditional service provision modes (e.g. phone calls, emails) and young individuals’ preferences for digital contact methods (e.g. instant messages through social media). Through our chatbot, the project will bring increased awareness of and accessibility to resources among post-secondary students in Metro Vancouver while fostering active discussion about its impact among relevant agencies.

The partnership with Vancouver & Lower Mainland Multicultural Family Support Services Society (VLMFSS), a non-profit organization supporting those impacted by gender-based violence in Metro Vancouver, is an integral part of the project. With VLMFSS support, the project will progress in two stages. First, our chatbot will be promoted through VLMFSS’ social media messaging platforms. It will provide young individuals with appropriate community resources for their situations, easing the pain of calling different agencies. Second, leveraging VLMFSS’ existing networks, we will set up the Advisory Committee, consisting of gender-based violence service providers and stakeholders. With the Advisory Committee, we will facilitate collaborative design workshops to gather service provision insights that will be used to revise the design and the content of the chatbot, improving resource access for clients and stakeholders concerned about or facing gender-based violence.