The Problem
- Estimates vary, but it is believed that around 3.4 billion people suffer from narcissistic abuse worldwide. In the UK alone the economic and social cost is £66 billion per year[1]. 1 in 4 women in England and Wales will experience domestic abuse in her lifetime. 2 women a week are killed by a current or former partner in England and Wales[2]. Men are also victims.
- Counselling is too expensive for many and too many counsellors don’t understand the nature of narcissistic abuse, so do more harm than good.
- Abusers delete evidence from phones and other devices, making it difficult for victims to get justice. Courts will often believe the charming and confident abuser over the broken victim, and so victims lose their homes and children.
- The trauma bond victims develop for their abusers is a powerful addiction that is difficult to break. Victims return to their abusers multiple times, putting themselves at increasing risk.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-economic-and-social-costs-of-domestic-abuse
[2] Source: Refuge
The Brief
Our client approached potential technology partners with the intention of engaging them in the development and support of an application. This app would be the catalyst for changing wider public opinion; to help people understand and take this abuse more seriously and to teach younger people about healthy boundaries and what narcissistic relationships look like and how to avoid them.
The Solution
MyNARA is a support app that:
- Provides a way for victims to secretly and safely store evidence to help victims get justice (generous free storage allowance). Evidence is only accessible by the victim who can send it to law enforcers when ready.
- Delivers a 12-step online recovery programme. The app addresses the addictive nature of the trauma bond by allowing users to see their progress away from the abuser.
The app is cloaked, and password protected so that the abuser will not find the app, and if they do they won’t be able to get access. Evidence is stored in the cloud so it is irrelevant if the device is destroyed.
MyNARA will also provide critical insight into victims and the nature of abuse to governments, charities, and support organisations in order to improve the services provided.
Tech we used
Frontend Web
- Vue.js (Nuxt)
- AWS Amplify
- AWS AppSync
CMS
Compute
Storage
Database
Network & Content Delivery
- AWS VPC
- AWS CloudFront
- AWS Route 53
Notification
- Amazon SES
- Amazon Pinpoint
Security & Identity Access Management
- AWS IAM
- AWS Cognito
- AWS Secrets Manager
Machine Learning
