Development of Virtual Support Application for Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Victims

Abstract

Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) is an issue of a serious global concern. SGBV affects everyone and has severe implications on an individual's physical, mental, emotional, and sexual health. Cases of Sexual and Gender-based violence (SGBV) rise especially during pandemic. There was an increased domestic violence due to women being trapped with a perpetrator, often without the means of accessing support (Wendoh, 2020). Due to heightened restrictions to leave homes, many victims have limited means to seek social and professional care and support. Moreover, government and non-government services could not also prioritize their SGBV responses due to lockdown. Thus, this study aimed to develop a Virtual Support Web Application that would inform and guide victims using SGBV -related educational materials and aid victims in reaching out to organizations and law enforcement agencies for help and assistance. The proposed application is a digital-enabled multifunctional SGBV response tool called TARA. It also utilizes web analytics to create data maps on SGBV and intends to assist by providing access to Self-Care and Psycho-Social Services. TARA aims to become the key instrument for raising awareness, providing a directory and direction to law enforcement agencies to deal with new and future SGBV cases. The evaluation shows positive responses from IT and non-IT professional respondents. Evaluating the functionality, usability, and efficiency, users were satisfied with the application as the mean average of the evaluation result is interpreted as strongly agree, which is deemed satisfactory in becoming a platform for SGBV in the Philippines.