Saheli:A Digital Safety Net for Informal Sector Women
A digital platform that empowers informal sector female workers to report workplace misconduct and access vital resources through WhatsApp.
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Sitaution
Female domestic workers in the informal sector face widespread sexual harassment and abuse. Many are too afraid to report these incidents due to fear of losing their jobs, damaging their reputations, or facing retribution. Without a formal support system, these women are left vulnerable and powerless to seek justice.
Task
As part of my MFA research, I set out to design a solution that would empower female domestic workers in the informal sector to report workplace harassment safely and anonymously. The objective was to create a platform that was familiar, accessible, and confidential, allowing these women to seek help without jeopardizing their jobs.
During my MFA research, I found that female domestic workers in the informal sector face widespread harassment but are often too afraid to report it. Many rely on WhatsApp for daily communication, which inspired me to create Saheli—a simple, accessible bot that lets women safely report incidents using a platform they already trust. Saheli helps bridge the gap between these workers and the legal support they need, offering a lifeline without jeopardizing their jobs.
Research and Interviews: Conducted extensive interviews with domestic workers and subject matter experts to understand the barriers preventing women from reporting harassment. This research highlighted the fear of job loss and the reliance on word-of-mouth for future employment.
Design for Accessibility: Designed Saheli, a WhatsApp chatbot, to accommodate the needs of women who may be illiterate or uncomfortable with text-based inputs. The bot supports voice inputs and offers real-time advice and helpline numbers, providing a safe and anonymous platform for reporting workplace misconduct.
Prototyping and Testing: Prototyped and tested Saheli with a small group of domestic workers to ensure it was easy to use and provided clear, actionable advice. Feedback from this testing phase led to adjustments that improved its effectiveness and user experience.
Voice-First Approach: Recognized that most of these women rely on voice memos rather than text for communication, and built Saheli with voice memo support to make it accessible to all users, regardless of literacy levels.
year
2023
timeframe
4 weeks
contributions
UX Research & Strategy, Conversational Design, Platform Accessibility Design, Safety Solution Development.
category
Artefacts
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By integrating voice memo functionality within WhatsApp, Saheli ensured that even illiterate women could report incidents and access legal support.
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Leveraged WhatsApp, a platform that these women already use daily, to ensure widespread adoption and ease of use.
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By guiding women to helpline numbers and legal resources, Saheli helped bridge the gap between these workers and the support they need, offering a lifeline in critical moments.
