Can the Amazon Echo help with domestic violence? Yes, UN Women is convinced and is building a prototype based on the Echo called Echo of Help, which will get help in an emergency.
Echo of Help: Amazon Echo to help with domestic violence
Domestic violence is a topic that we don’t often have on our tech blog. But that has more to do with our orientation and less with the fact that we could underestimate the problem. However, we would now like to discuss this in a few articles, and the easiest way to do so is if both – the topic of domestic violence and the topic of tech – overlap in one message.
This is exactly the case with “Echo of Help”: we are talking here about a project of the independent non-governmental organisation “UN Women National Committee Germany e.V.”. They focus extensively on domestic violence but also have other relevant topics in focus, as you can read here.
Actually, I wanted to write that fortunately, I have no one in my circle of acquaintances who is a victim of domestic violence, but that is of course nonsense. Nonsense because for a variety of reasons – for example, fear or shame – those concerned do not hang something like that on the big bell. At this point, we are dealing with a taboo topic similar to depression (edit: or bullying).
What is Echo of Help? A smart assistant based on an Amazon Echo. More precisely, it is a prototype that is still basically an echo, but which has been given a decisive function in the form of a silent alarm.
This silent alarm is triggered by a previously defined code word and in this way previously selected contacts are also notified. For example, if a woman finds herself in a threatening situation, she can call for help inconspicuously.
UN Women is worried that Echo only responds to certain words by default, although it would be technically easy to integrate such a silent alarm. But basically, it’s not about producing a smart loudspeaker yourself. Rather, the aim is a) to drag the topic out of the taboo zone into the public eye and sensitize people to it and b) at the same time to encourage Amazon to react and implement the function itself.
In this context, UN Women calls for the topic to be brought into the social media under the hashtag #EchoOfHelp and thus into people’s minds. On the Echo of Help page you will also find further information on the topic, for example, 146 women were killed by domestic violence in 2016 alone.