Can our phones help us stay safe from domestic violence? In Hong Kong gender-based violence is widespread and often tolerated, because of a deeply rooted societal inequality between men and women. Thus, due to a lack of evidence, victims often stay quiet. This app helps victims use their phones to collect evidence and create an accurate timetable of abuse. We’re using mobile phones to make it a bit harder for abusers to gaslight women and change the narrative, while also helping victims build a case for legal proceedings, as these recordings can be used as evidence in a court of law.

The digital world is full of apps, but this is the first mobile app that uses AI to detect abuse by recognising the language often used in abusive situations, and helps victims collect legal proof. Studies show that certain verbal phrases accompany abuse and are often shouted by perpetrators in the lead-up to a physical attack. So, we trained our AI to recognise these key phrases in a variety of Cantonese dialects and CANTONESE accented English. When they are heard, the app immediately starts recording the entire incident that follows, helping victims collect proof against their abusers. If the AI determines the incident is escalating, an emergency alert is sent to a pre-determined trusted contact. The information is biometrically protected, and the app is designed to look generic, so abusers don’t recognise it. The information gathered is legal admissible, making it an important step in the battle against gender-based violence.

The app was designed to elicit a direct response from our victims: using their mobile phones to collect legal proof of the abuse. We used AI and turned technology into a simple and direct tool to battle gender-based violence.

This app is the first of its kind. Once activated, the app runs automatically in the background and secretly starts recording when the AI picks up any of these abuse words. When the AI detects a potentially life-threatening situation, an emergency alert is sent to a trusted friend. Designed to look like a generic app, it is also biometrically protected so there is no way for the abuser to find or access the recordings. The app has just been launched and is free to download on the Google Play Store. Made in partnership with Women Helping Women Asia, the app has already been released to 6 partner organisations in Hong Kong. The response from all of them has been overwhelmingly positive. At the moment the AI has been trained in Cantonese and CANTONESE accented English, but we are planning to quickly expand to more languages and markets in Asia.

The app has just been released, so it’s too early to share any data, but it’s important to note that lawyers have confirmed that these recordings are legally admissible in a court of law, which hopefully will lead to an uptick in 1) victims finding the strength to speak up about the abuse 2) more convictions. So far, the app has been released to several charities and NGOs in Hong Kong, and through their networks and communication channels to the women who desperately need it. And we're already talking to other organisations in Asia and gathering more data to train the AI in new languages, so it can be used throughout Asia.