About

Sophia is a chatbot that assists survivors of domestic violence 24/7 no matter where you are in the world and in strict confidentiality. Sophia’s goal is to help people who interact with her feel safe, protected from any kind of judgement, stigma and/or isolation and find the right resources to meet their needs.

How does Sophia work?

Sophia helps survivors of domestic violence in three main ways, which we call “G.A.L.”:

Gather potential evidence

Assess your rights

Learn about your options

You can chat to Sophia about abusive relationships, on the things you need to know if you plan on leaving your relationship and most importantly where and how to find help. From January 2022, you can also create a digital safe where you can start gathering potential evidence of the abuse happening. The purpose of gathering evidence is to help decide what action to take. It is often difficult to get out of an abusive situation due to many known and sometimes unknown factors. With Sophia, this becomes possible.The documents and files that you decide to entrust to her could constitute potential evidence and thus be used by lawyers. They could be in custody decisions, divorce proceedings and obtaining restraining orders with the support of the police. They could also be sent to trusted friends in case of need. No steps are taken without your consent.

What is a Chatbot?

A chatbot, also known as a “conversational agent”, is a computer program designed to interact with users through messaging platforms or applications. It provides automated responses by processing the data provided. In addition to the anonymity it offers to interlocutors, it also has the advantage of meeting the requirements of speed in certain situations. It thus eliminates any risk of delay.

Who created Sophia?

Sophia was created by the Swiss non-profit organisation Spring ACT and their team of experts in human rights and gender-based violence and professionals coming mainly from the fields of technology, communication, personal and professional development and psychology. This multi-disciplinarity combined with the diversity of the team has enabled Sophia to take into account several key aspects and provide a comprehensive and integrated process of support and assistance to survivors of domestic violence. Most importantly, Sophia was developed in close collaboration with survivors of domestic violence themselves. They form a integral part of the team, the volunteers, and the management of Spring ACT. In addition, the development og Sophia was accompanied by the umbrella organisation of all domestic violence shelters in Switzerland (DAO), and the national coordination of victims assistance (SODK SVK-OHG).

Privacy and Security of chatting to Sophia

No matter where you are, Sophia works beyond borders and ensures your digital safety and complies with the strictest security protocol, i.e. the European General Data Protection Regulation. Meaning that we only process your data with utmost care and for your most important objective: gathering evidence, keeping it in the safest environment possible and destroying it for good by your preference. You can read more about the Privacy Policy here.

Last but not least, Zendesk’s software Sunshine Conversation provides the licence for Sophia to run on all platforms. You can read Zendesk Privacy Policy here.