Missing Link Trust launches AI chatbot for child safety in 100 Mumbai civic schools

Child safety begins with open conversation, the Missing Link Trust (MLT) reiterated at the launch of its new chatbot. According to the National Crime Records Bureau's 'Crime in India 2024' report, 69,191 cases were registered under the POCSO Act in India, and in more than 96 per cent of these cases the accused was not a stranger but someone known to the child.

This is why it is important to teach children and adolescents about personal boundaries, consent and safe relationships, so that they can recognise uncomfortable situations and seek help in the right way when needed. Parents, teachers and caregivers also need the right information to listen to children, respond correctly and support them.

Taking this thinking forward, Missing Link Trust has partnered with Capgemini India to launch an AI-based, WhatsApp-run child safety chatbot called 'Khuli Baat', meaning open conversation. The chatbot is designed to give parents and caregivers easy access to reliable information and guidance on child safety. It helps adults talk to the children in their care about personal boundaries, consent, relationships, online safety and exploitation. It also provides information on the right kind of help and resources available when needed. Any adult can start a conversation with the chatbot by sending a 'Hi' message to the WhatsApp number 6003060040.

The chatbot was unveiled by Brijesh Singh, IPS, Principal Secretary of the Maharashtra government's Directorate General of Information and Public Relations, along with others. Missing Link Trust is working in 100 schools run by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai to prevent abuse of children. Under this partnership, work is being carried out in three areas: safety education for 10,000 adolescent boys and girls through school programmes, development of the 'Khuli Baat' AI chatbot for parents, teachers and caregivers, and strengthening the system for preventing and responding to child sexual abuse through meetings and discussions with various stakeholders.

Leena Kejriwal, Founder Trustee and CEO of Missing Link Trust, said, "Khuli Baat does not just give generic advice through its AI model. This chatbot has been built on the experience we have gained from over 10 years of field work. That is why the guidance it offers is based on real, local-level risks, and is sensitive to the realities Indian families face. Every response is based on carefully curated information, which takes into account bias, gender and power relationships while being compiled. It has been designed to be easy to use for adults across different levels of digital access and literacy. It is not limited to just providing information." She added that when needed, families are also connected to the help available in their area and the correct ways to file complaints, so that adults get support not just with information but also in understanding the situation they face and taking the right steps.

Kumar Anurag Pratap, Vice President and CSR Head at Capgemini India, said, "Children are spending more time online, so along with new opportunities that come with technology, new kinds of risks are also increasing. In such a situation, it has become more important to prevent such incidents and identify potential risks early and take the right steps. Technology has been used in Khuli Baat to easily provide reliable information and resources related to child safety to parents and caregivers through a platform they are already using."

'Khuli Baat' has been launched as the next phase of Missing Link Trust's Missing Awareness and School Safety Programme (MASSP). Through this programme, adolescent boys and girls are given the necessary information and skills on child sexual abuse, online safety, personal boundaries, grooming, disclosure and seeking help. MLT's aim through 'Khuli Baat' is to strengthen this system and make safety education, open conversation and seeking timely help a part of everyday childhood.