Somar Digital helping to eliminate family violence in NZ

Somar Digital is working with Te Aorerekura, providing its expertise on new digital tools to help end family and sexual violence in New Zealand.

Somar Digital is providing its web development services for two new digital tools from In Your Hands as well as a suite of digital tools for Te Aorerekura, Aotearoa's National Strategy to Eliminate Family and Sexual Violence.

In Your Hands is a website designed for perpetrators of violence to help them change their behaviour and take positive steps forward.

Somar Digital has also facilitated a new Service Finder Tool that offers a straightforward way for people to find necessary family and sexual violence services.

The company has worked with the Ministry of Social Development, Healthpoint, and Dentsu Creative, who designed the two digital tools.

"Both products are part of a focused approach by Somar Digital to choose to work on projects that not only make a tangible difference to the community but also importantly connect communities that are in need," says Fiona Reid, CEO, Somar Digital.

"They are the kind of social good project that our team are passionate about contributing to."

"Bringing more support online will make taking those first steps to get support more accessible, and work towards our goal of eliminating family violence in Aotearoa," says Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment Priyanca Radhakrishnan, who launched the new suite of digital tools.

Modernising the current support systems and making support and information more easily accessible for New Zealanders has been a driving factor in creating these digital tools.

In Your Hands used a community-based approach by using the platform to share real stories from people who have made changes in their lives to inspire others to do the same.

The website is based on three steps:

1. Thinking about change
2. Taking steps for change
3. Staying on track

The site includes a quiz to aid in these objectives by providing a way for users to find out what stage of the journey they are at and give them resources to facilitate meaningful change.

In Your Hands says this is the first phase of the project, with one month of development still to come, which includes adding a live chat to the site.

Previously, people would find the process of finding services related to their issues overwhelming. The Service Finder Tool takes a lot of the stress out of this process by using the Healthpoint API to link the user to the services they need.