Desi Today Magazine
Ritika Dutt, who was once a victim of sexual harassment, has launched a free artificial intelligence tool to empower other victims of harassment, violence and misconduct to fight for their legal rights
By Surbhi Gogia
In October 2017, the #MeToo movement prompted women from across the globe to step forward and talk about sexual harassment. Some were shocked to see millions of women discussing these experiences, , but the conversation wasn’t shocking for others, since almost every woman in every culture, country, or race has gone through the horrific experience of being sexually harassed in her lifetime. But the shame, guilt, and onus to prove that harassment took place is still with the victim, and this discourages many from talking about sexual harassment openly or seeking help. The lack of education and awareness around the legal rights of victims, and the aid available, are other reasons many still suffer in silence.
Ritika Dutt, a 29-year-old entrepreneur from Montreal, who was once a victim herself, has stepped forward and offered a groundbreaking solution for this serious problem. She is the CEO and co-founder of Botler AI, an artificial intelligence-powered empowerment tool, that provides guidance and legal support for users. It confidentially analyzes users’ experiences and guides them through their legal rights and the applicable laws in their situation in a step-by-step process. Ritika was listed in the Forbes 30 Under 30 2020 Law & Policy List for launching the online tool that triages users and provides them with response and action guidance, based on the details of their case.
Botler AI was initially launched as a tool to assist people with immigration applications by a Montreal-based software architect Amir Moravej in 2016. The company’s aim was to create tools that would make the law more accessible to the average person, and expandeded its focus to include sexual harassment response guidance once Ritika joined Amir in 2017. After the phenomenal response to Botler’s’s first version, 2020 became another milestone year for the duo, when they announced Botler for Citizens, in partnership with the Department of Justice Canada and the Canadian Legal Aid System, under a coordinated$50 Million commitment to fight sexual harassment and other misconduct.
A completely free web application, Botler for Citizens has expanded its role from just offering guidance for victims of sexual harassment to support individuals suffering from various forms of harassment, violence and misconduct. Anyone seeking legal guidance on a personal incident of misconduct can log onto https://botler.ai. To maintain confidentiality, users are not required to download any app and only require access to the Internet.
Once the user accesses the website, they can describe the incident to Botler, which will identify whether any acts of misconduct have occurred. Then, Botler will offer potential legal options and other related information in easy-to-understand language, including a list of legal and support organizations from Botler’s National Referral Partner Network that can assist the user with their next steps.
“We’re often unaware of our rights, too scared to ever speak up for fear of being blamed, ostracized, or even losing our jobs, and that’s before even trying to figure out how to navigate the legal system,” says Ritika, CEO, and co-founder of Botler AI.
Ritika was once a victim of a similar trauma, in the form of a stalker, which prompted her to develop a solution that could empower individuals to seek justice on their terms. Born in Calcutta and raised in Hong Kong and Singapore, Ritika comes from a family of lawyers. She moved to Canada as a student to pursue a double major in Economics and Political Science at McGill University. After graduation, she followed her passion for entrepreneurship and joined an education technology start-up before taking on a role fostering the innovation and entrepreneurship community in Montreal. It was during this time that she was approached by an individual who eventually went on to become her stalker.
“At the beginning, I thought this individual was just another person from the community and I was very professional in my responses. It started to get worse fast and spilled over from my work life to personal life,” she says.
Every day through her shifts, the man would come in and watch her. After finding out her phone number, he would bombard her with texts and calls. One night, he showed up at a bar where Ritika’s friends were waiting for her. All night, he stared at the door while leaving her voicemails. Ritika was young and a Permanent Resident at the time, unaware of her legal rights in Canada. She decided to take the matter up with her employer.
“I brought this up to my employer so many times but it was never handled or addressed. And after a few months, I had to make the difficult decision to quit my job for my safety.”
She said during that time, she went through a spectrum of emotions from blaming herself for being over-emotional or somehow causing the problem, to hiding in her apartment for months at a time to feel safe.
“I was destroyed. I quit public life, I did not go out for a year. I was terrified. I felt so trapped and had this burning shame that something like that could happen to me.”
It was during this time that she joined Amir at Botler AI.
After a few months, the ghosts of the past reappeared in Ritika’s life when the Harvey Weinstein scandal made headlines. It triggered the #MeToo movement, unleashing the concentrated power of millions of girls and women speaking out against sexual harassment and gender-based violence. Ritika was drawn towards it too.
“I started doing research on the subject and it empowered me to understand that what happened to me was not my fault. It was a serious crime. I had protection under the law that I had zero idea about. It also taught me this was such a widespread problem. It wasn’t something that was just happening to me.”
Ritika noticed that the media and society were focusing so much on the problem, but without offering any solution.
“Having worked on legal literacy through AI, we realized this was such a concrete opportunity for us to provide a solution.”
The first version of Botler AI was launched in December 2017 and helped users understand if a situation they had experienced was considered sexual harassment under the law. “We received an overwhelming response,” she says.
Former Minister of Industry, Science and Innovation, the Honorable Navdeep Bains learned about Botler AI and invited Ritika to discuss Botler’s work in front of the G7 leaders.
“We discussed our unique approach applying high tech AI to solve a prevalent social problem. We also used this opportunity to present our vision for the future, in the form of the manifesto for Botler for Citizens,” she says.
In 2019 Botler partnered with the Department of Justice Canada and the Canadian Legal Aid system to create Botler for Citizens.
“It is a historic collaboration. Collectively, Botler AI and the country of Canada are setting global precedent for implementing a centralized citizen-facing AI-powered solution on a national scale. As part of this initiative, Botler’s National Referral Partner Network also becomes the largest human-in-loop and support follow-through network of its kind that’s ever been implemented in the world” Ritika informs.
She says Canada is a country where Human Rights are highly valued. “There are tons of support programs and resources available. And all you need is the right tool to that can help you access the appropriate resources.”
She specifically emphasises the importance of using the right tool to search for the information because we all are habitually inclined to Google any information. “In case of a trauma, search engines can do more damage than the actual good.”
Botler for Citizens can be your first point of contact if you want to look for any information related to harassment. “Harassment refers to a series of repeated behaviours just over time that makes you feel uncomfortable. For the most part, it refers to a repeated behaviour but sometimes it can be so severe that one incident is enough to refer to it as harassment. It can refer to any form of misconduct, discrimination or unwelcome conduct with regards to an individual’s sex, sexual orientation, gender, or other protected characteristics. It can be verbal, physical, sexual or online,” she explains.
The resources are available, help is there. You just have to step out and take that initial step. “The best thing about artificial intelligence is it will analyse your case objectively without being judgemental about your situation.”
Her message, to all those who suffer harassment in silence or are hesitant to seek help, is, “I have been there. I know how cold and lonely it can get. There can be a tendency to feel ashamed. We need to remember women are at the foundation of society and because of this we are inherently built to be strong. There is help available. We don’t need anyone but ourselves to take that first step. With every small step, you will feel more empowered. There is no shame in getting the help we need to get over this stigma.”
