Ayesa works with the Regional Government of Andalusia to prevent sexual abuse in children

The consulting firm is developing a database to record victims of sexual violence of up to 18 years of age in the region’s eight provinces. The system will improve decision-making where abuse is potentially happening as well as help prevent it from reoccurring through AI.

Ayesa, a global provider of technology and engineering services, has been awarded a contract worth EUR 252,771 by the Regional Department for Social Inclusion, Youth, Families and Equality in Andalusia to create a database of children who have been victims of sexual abuse. The initiative, which is funded by the EU, is part of the region’s Child Sexual Abuse Assessment, Identification and Assistance Programme, which helps around 1500 children each year.

Ayesa is also responsible for the development and maintenance of the database, which will be used in the region’s eight provinces. Once implemented, the new solution will allow for the comprehensive systematisation and analysis of all information relating to cases handled through the programme.

Throughout the project, Ayesa will work closely with the regional department’s IT services; the regional Directorate-General for Childhood, Adolescence and Youth; and the prevention services at the various provincial offices as well as a number of bodies that specialise in child sexual abuse.

The database will bring together all relevant information and will be integrated with external applications as well as the department’s own, which include SIMIA, VEAJA and Carpeta Ciudadana (a website provided by the regional government where members of the public can access a wide range of services). Staff will be able to access the information and manage cases via a web portal, something that is expected to significantly increase their efficiency.

The system will also help them make decisions where sexual abuse may be happening, as well as prevent it from reoccurring. To do this, the database will be the first part of the data lake to be implemented. AI techniques will subsequently be used for predictive analysis and the early detection of situations which have a high probability of leading to sexual abuse.

Ensuring the well-being of children

The ultimate aim of the project is to enhance the well-being of children in the region by preventing sexual abuse. To achieve this, it will bring together case files in a single place, allowing prevention services to record and filter cases in order to take the appropriate course of action.

According to the regional department, ‘making full use of the possibilities offered by ICT is essential in order to create a centralised system where staff can access the information they need on case files, doing so in line with legislation governing personal data protection’.

The database developed by Ayesa will also allow statistics to be generated on sexual abuse. This will provide useful insights into its incidence and distribution in the region, as well as the action that is taken to help victims with a view of preventing recurrence. The project also includes the possible connection of the database with other systems as well as the incorporation of predictive AI models.