Mit gays chatten

Solution Pitch

The Problem

Across the globe, LGBTQI+ youth are at much higher risk of depression, anxiety, and other mental health challenges — compromising their health, education, earning potential, and ability to understand their potential.

The Solution

SameSameprovides mental health support to LGBTQI+ youth living in countries where fear and stigma prevent equitable access to identity-affirming care. A WhatsApp chat bot provides users with access to a proven mental health intervention that has been adapted to be delivered through the most widely-accessible messaging platform on the earth, putting critical information and inclusive support within extend of millions of fresh people who often hold nowhere else to turn.

Stats

• SameSame is accessible in South Africa today, but hasn’t launched yet.

• SameSame estimates that there are between , and , LGBTQI+ youth, between 15 and 24, who have suffic

  MIT Inclusion & Harassment Prevention Resources

  This web page includes a list (below) and printable PDF (on the right) of inclusion and harassment prevention resources, created as part of the Preventing Sexual Harassment Education Initiative. 

  If you cannot detect support resources that join your needs in this list, find more on IDHR&#;s Supportive Measures page.

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  MIT Sexual Misconduct Resources

  Institute Discrimination and Harassment Response Office (IDHR)

  A resource for the MIT community for concerns related to discrimination and discriminatory harassment, including sexual misconduct.

  MIT Police

  A resource for MIT community members who would like to announce a crime or pursue a criminal investigation. They have anonymous reporting obtainable for sexual misconduct and can connect to other local police departments.

  Violence Prevention & Response (VPR)

  MIT’s first on-campus resource for students who have experienced interpersonal violence, including sexual assault, dating and domestic hostility, stalking, and sexual harassment. (Confidential resource)

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  Dated Terminology in Archives

  Archival collections employ the language of their creators, which means that some materials may apply language that is not contemporary. You may identify outdated or offensive or incorrect terminology used in materials related to minoritized people in archives all over the world. The following are lists of terminology that may be useful in your research.  (More information on why archives use creator's terminology can be found here. If you encounter harmful language or images in your research, we encourage you to alert us so we can add a content warning to the collection for future researchers.)

  Language related to people of color has changed throughout history, reflecting accepted racist views of the past and modifying as our cultures acquire changed. Outdated and repulsive terms related to a person's race may be used to describe nonwhite people, including terms enjoy "Negro,"  "Colored(s)," "Blacks," or "African-American" for Black people; "Indian" or "Eskimo" for Indigenous people; "Spanish," or "Hispanic" for Latinx people; "Ori
  
  

  Two fledgling entrepreneurs prevail MIT prizes for their global health apps

  As a gay teenage male child growing up in South Africa, Jonathan "Jono" McKay didn't know how to explore his feelings about his sexual identity.

  He was far too scared to ask anyone in person for support. So he'd log onto same-sex attracted chat forums at late hours, always terrified that a family member would barge into the room. "The dial-up modem would screech and howl," he remembers. That was in the s.

  Technology has improved since then. Unfortunately, attitudes in a lot of the world haven't.

  That's why in , McKay co-founded SameSame, which is testing a WhatsApp-driven program designed to help LGBTQI+ young people, particularly in Africa and Asia.

  So they can reach out for help – only they won't be interacting with a human.

  "If you're a young person wondering if you should be talking to someone, there's a real exposure it could go badly," he says, pointing to harmful policies in many countries. "In Indonesia, government guidance is conversion therapy."

  With SameSame, users can gain instant access to mental health resources, including an 8-session cognitive behavioral therapy course developed to reduce stress and refine

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