A Nigerian lady, Saadat Aliyu, has developed an app called ‘Helpio’ to help report cases of sexual abuse. Aliyu, who hails from Kano State, launched the Android application in August 2020.
Ms. Aliyu, who is the founder of Shamrock Innovations, a women- and youth-centric tech innovation hub in Kano, said that anybody can visit the Play Store on an Android phone and install the app.
After installation, you can sign up using email and password, either in the Hausa or English language.
She also revealed what inspired the application in a chat with Daily Trust.
“What really made me quickly do this was because, personally, I have some people close to me who are rape victims who have not got the justice they deserve. A boy was raped, and he did not get justice. It hurt me because it happened in my vicinity.
“It is something that has been paining me a lot: seeing that most people don’t get the justice they deserve after reporting cases of sexual assault, and I feel bad about this. I thought of how I could be of help. I know that there are some organisations that do a lot to help these victims, and that’s why I came up with this application so that we can have these kinds of organisations on board in just one platform so that people can be able to report to them directly without the usual barriers.
“It took me about two months to come up with the first version of the application. It was around May/June 2020, during the lockdown, and I was done around early August.”
“So far, the Initiative for Support of Victims of Sexual Abuse, Orphans, and Less Privileged (ISSOL) and Equity Destitute, Child Right and Welfare Initiative (EDCRAWI) have signed up on the platform.”
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She recalled that she started learning IT skills from her brother when she was in junior secondary school and subsequently became a self-taught developer.
The young lady said her next project will be launched very soon and is fintech-oriented, conceived to continue making an impact on women’s and people’s lives by advocating and developing solutions.