Hear the Pitch
The Problem
Every year, tens of thousands of adults and children are raped in conflict zones around the world. Most don’t report these crimes, and when some do, many cases fail due to poor evidence: forensic exams are rarely conducted, charts are incomplete, and clinicians and law enforcement officers don't communicate with each other.
The Solution
To change this trend, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) created MediCapt, a mobile app that connects medical and legal professionals to transform the documentation and prosecution of human rights violations. MediCapt makes it easier to capture, preserve, and transmit forensic evidence of sexual violence.
The app pairs a digital medical intake form with a secure mobile camera to allow clinicians to take forensic photos, capturing more compelling medical evidence. MediCapt includes sophisticated encryption, cloud data storage, high adherence to chain-of-custody standards, and tamper-proof metadata, so clinicians can securely save the evidence and transmit it to police, lawyers, and judges.
Market Opportunity
- The app was intentionally designed to digitize any forensic form, in any language, and to adhere to the requirements of any legal jurisdiction.
- MediCapt differs from current tools in that it provides a detailed, standardized medical form that guides clinicians in collecting forensic evidence for sexual violence, and to help communicate that evidence to the appropriate authorities.
Organization Highlights
- Endorsed by several governments including the US Department of State, Dutch Foreign Ministry, UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women, World Bank, and more
- Awards: First place in the Safe Documentation category of 2013 USAID/Humanity United Tech Challenge for Atrocity Prevention
- Speaking engagements: International Criminal Court, RightsCon, the World Bank, among others
- Media: Africa News, HuffPost, Reuters, ThinkProgress, New Scientist, Bloomberg, among others, including several peer-reviewed journal articles such as, Genocide Studies and Prevention, and Global Health: Science and Practice
Existing Partnerships
MediCapt currently partners with stakeholders in Kenya and DRC, including:
- Officials from the national- and county-level health authorities
- Doctors, clinical officers, nurses, community health workers, and hospital administrators in rural and urban health facilities
- Civil society organizations and survivor activists
- Police, lawyers, and judges at the local and national levels
Organization Goals
MediCapt aims to:
- Increase sources of investment and revenue
- Provide its app to more users, countries, and officials
Partnership Goals
To reach these goals, MediCapt seeks partnerships to:
- Consult on scaling digital product to new markets
- Connect to new markets through partnerships with NGOs and governments
- Consult on software security, privacy, interoperability, and open source
- Consult on business strategy as the product scales to new markets
Stats
MediCapt launched with live patients in Kenya in October 2018.
220 forms have been submitted using MediCapt, allowing clinicians to capture forensic evidence of sexual violence and securely transmit it to police and justice officials.
Solver Team
Organization Type:
Nonprofit
Headquarters:
New York, NY, USA
Stage:
Pilot
Working in:
Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
Employees:
https://phr.org/issues/sexual-...
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Karen Naimer Director, Program on Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones, Physicians for Human Rights
Documenting Sexual Violence Evidence
Solver MediCapt received a $200,000 grant from Member Patrick J. McGovern Foundation in 2019 to transform the documentation and prosecution of sexual violence.
Documenting Sexual Violence Evidence
Solver MediCapt, which transforms the documentation and prosecution of sexual violence, received a $10,000 grant from Solve in 2018 for being selected as a Frontlines of Health Solver.
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