Transforming Survivor Centred GBV Response Using Human Centred AI Agents
A multi-disciplinary team at UCD has been awarded a grant to create an AI-enabled agent simulation that allows case-workers dealing with Gender-Based Violence (GBV) to ‘see’ different scenarios that could plausibly result from particular care-plans. The project, entitled Harm2Healing, aims to transform survivor centred GBV response.
Challenges and outcomes
There are several challenges in providing aid to survivors of GBV, with the disconnect between the case-worker and the survivor being the biggest one. The case-worker needs to understand the implications (cultural, social) of the care-plan that is suggested to the survivor. The agent-simulation will, crucially, model the emotional state of the survivor and thereby enable the case-worker to achieve a level of empathetic understanding. This will lead to a step-change in the ‘fit’ of the care-plan generated by the case-worker for each individual survivor.
The project will be led by (opens in a new window)Dr Sulagna Maitra, UCD Centre for Humanitarian Action in the School of Agriculture and Food Science and Co-PI (opens in a new window)Dr Vivek Nallur, UCD School of Computer Science.
Dr Sulagna Maitra
Dr Nallur commented “We are aiming to leverage human-centered agent-based simulations to help GBV case workers deliver optimal, survivor-choice-driven care in the face of escalating crises and aid cuts. The project was co-developed organically over numerous cups of coffee at Pi which, spatially, is a meeting point between humanitarian action and computer sciences".
Dr Vivek Nallur
Harm2Healing is one of 16 research projects that have received funding of over €3.5 million under Research Ireland’s COALESCE (Collaborative Alliances for Societal Challenges) 2025 programme.
#interdisciplinaryresearch #humancentredAi #abm #agentsimulation
Published 25 Nov 2025