Good morning, everyone.
Before I start, I want to give a trigger warning.
The content presented in this video
contains information about sexual and physical violence
that can be triggering for some listeners.
My name is Mustafa Naseem, and I'm a Clinical Assistant
Professor at the University of Michigan School of Information.
This study was done in collaboration
with Fouzia Younas at the Information Technology
University.
And Dr. Maryan Mustafa who is an Assistant Professor
at the Computer Science Department at LUMS
in Lahore Pakistan.
Studies show a direct positive impact
on mental health resulting from the ability
to openly express unpleasant feelings
or otherwise known as distress disclosures.
Studies also show that the opposite is also true
that the inability to express sincere negative emotions
and trauma leads to many psychological and physical
disorders.
In a country like Pakistan, where women only
have a few safe spaces to share traumatic experiences of abuse
or the literacy rate among women is only 47%.
And where existing social media platforms
fail to provide low literate women an opportunity
to share their narratives in a safe environment,
our work provides insights and a design framework to navigate
and designed around these challenges.
Our study comprises of two distinct phases.
In phase 1, we conducted 21 semi-structured interviews
with a focus on support seeking behavior
to women in patriarchal contexts who have experienced
mental health issues.
Based on our findings, we identify design implications
that could provide support to these women.
We use these findings from phase 1
to conduct qualitative research activity using a technology
probe with 15 low-income low-literate women
participants.
The goal of these activities was to understand the possibility
behind a voice-based peer support system.
We present insights around user registration, anonymity,
privacy, and security.
In phase 1 from our sample, 71% of the participants
reported experiencing depression,
43% reported experiencing domestic violence,
and 29% reported being subjected to sexual harassment.
Our participants expressed fear of talking about mental health
concerns, and seeking help due to
the negative societal perception around mental health.
12 participants complained about their husbands not taking
on financial responsibility for the family,
where drug addiction was reported as the main concern
for their husbands apathy.
Leaving such a marriage wasn't a realistic option
for our participants, as divorce is
stigmatized in these circles.
We found that while our participants relied
on existing social networks like siblings and friends
for non-taboos topics, they felt reluctant to share
taboo topics, such as female sexuality or sexual harassment.
Our findings reveal a need for an anonymous non-judgemental
safe space to allow women to share their narratives
and find support.
In study 2, we use a technology probe
with various registration options, authentication
options, and a voice filter to anonymize audio content.
In terms of registration, 9 out of the 15 participants
said that they would feel comfortable talking
to a real person in order to verify their identity.
As far as authentication, a user safety is concerned,
we found a distinct divide between smartphone and feature
phone users.
All five smartphone users used a lock on the home screen.
Three users used a pattern lock, while the other two
used a pin codes.
However, none of the 10 feature phone users
had a password to unlock their phone.
One of our participants even mentioned that her husband
kept an eye on her call logs.
In the paper, we go into a detailed discussion
about the need for a password, and how
to go about implementing one.
With a voice-based service, it becomes harder
to hide the identity of a user.
We tested various voice filters as part
of our technology [INAUDIBLE].
11 out of the 15 participants agreed
they found the voice modification feature
to anonymize their voice useful.
However, the most interesting responses
came from women who declined to use this feature.
We found that while voice filters had a viable option,
they're not always preferred by the users,
as they detract from the seriousness of the narrative
and stripped of its emotional valence.
In terms of recommendations, we recommend
that when designing for women in patriarchal contexts,
a framework of connectedness would
be useful with applications for women within this context
should include backdoor features that
allow women to be able to connect with each other.
For user safety, we recommend a duping system
where the first pin leads to the actual application,
and the second pin leads to an innocuous application
such as weather or news.
For anonymity, we recommend limiting the availability
of the polls from the city of the poster
to reduce the chances of the identity of the user being
discovered from the story itself.
Thank you for your time.
If you haven't had a chance, I encourage
you to read the paper.
And feel free to reach out if you have any questions.