StandWeSpeak

1. Widespread misconceptions and misinformation about sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) amongst youth in India, including the shame and stigma attached to it.

 2. Lack of access to confidential healthcare and urgent needs such as contraception, pregnancy tests, and menstrual hygiene products, resulting in higher cases of unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortion, overpopulation, sexual violence, mental health issues, and more.

3. Lack of affordability and convenience to seek Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare services.

Facts and Figures:

1) 225 million women in developing countries have an unmet need for family planning, contributing to 74 million unplanned pregnancies and 36 million abortions every year.(Women Deliver)

2) 800 women die every day from preventable, pregnancy-related causes. (WHO)

3) India has the 3rd largest HIV epidemic in the world. (UNAIDS)

4) 71% of adolescent girls remained unaware of menstruation till menarche. (UNICEF)

5) Out of the total 48.1 million pregnancies, half (28 million) are unintended, in India. (WHO)

6) Almost half of all child brides worldwide live in South Asia; 1 in 3 are in India. (UNICEF)

7) 3 million teenage girls undergo unsafe abortions, every year, globally. (UNICEF)

8) 1 in 3 women experience intimate partner violence, globally. (WHO)

At StandWeSpeak, an award-winning, SexTech venture, we are building “A 21st century sexual health ecosystem for Millennials and GenZ.”

We are leveraging AI technology to develop Mae - an anonymous, non-judgmental, one stop Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRHR) platform to empower young people to make informed decisions about their bodies, relationships and lives. It provides personalized solutions to users based on their age, gender, location, and needs.

Mae provides users access to:

1. Medically-legally accurate SRHR information.

2. Healthcare and legal experts.

3. Menstrual hygiene, sexual wellness, and contraceptive products.

4. Digital content, podcasts and resources.

We are building a "Digital Sexual Health Ecosystem for youth" just like should be - affordable, accessible, and gender-inclusive.

Features of Mae include:

1. Accuracy: The information provided by the chatbot is curated and verified by a team of global sexual health experts.

2. Accessibility: Users can access services at the comfort of their homes using their mobile phones, 24x7.

3. Acceptance: It is gender-inclusive, non-judgmental, and sex-positive.

4. Anonymity: It gives users an edge to ask away all their doubts and questions without hesitation.

5. Affordability: Users can seek medical and SRHR information free of cost.

Our direct beneficiaries include teenagers, young adults, (especially girls, women, and the LGBTQ+ community) of the age group 13-35 years, living in urban/semi-urban* cities across the globe, who have access to smartphones or laptops.

*We will also cater to the rural areas in the coming 2 years when we make our platform multi-lingual (currently it's available only in English).

Our customers include:

1. Teenagers and young adults (direct consumers of product and teleconsultation services).

2. Menstrual hygiene & sexual wellness product companies (to advertise their products on our platform).

3. Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare organizations and NGOs (to promote their courses and services on our platform).

Market Size:

Total Available Market: 1.9 Billion

Serviceable Available Market: 190 Million

Serviceable Obtainable Market: 15 Million

The Global Sexual Wellness Market size is expected to reach $125.1 billion by 2026. (12.4% CAGR) - Source: WHO, UN.org, BusinessWire

IMPACT-

We strive to achieve social and gender equality by improving the awareness level and overall sexual and mental health of individuals of all-age groups and genders in India. Success for us would be producing the following specific results in the beneficiaries:

Women: To break the stigma and shame around sexual wellness, using period, intimate care or sexual wellness products.

Teenage and Adult: To have information about provision of and access to counselling and medical services, particularly in the case of problems and questions.

Youth: To have gained appropriate information about physical, cognitive, social, emotional and cultural aspects of sexuality, family planning, the body, reproduction, abortion, contraception, pregnancy, pornography, STI/HIV and sexual coercion.

Parents and children: Perceptual and attitudinal change in the mindset of students, parents and children towards health, hygiene, and well-being.

Society: Contribute to a social climate that is tolerant, open and respectful towards sexuality, various lifestyles, attitudes and values.

Overall: To be able to communicate about sexuality, emotions and relationships and have the necessary language to do so.

1. Priyal Agrawal (Founder and CEO)

LinkedIn : LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pr...

With a background in Psychology, Priyal Agrawal is a young social entrepreneur, gender equality activist, and a Certified Sexuality Educator with 4+ years of industrial experience in the mental and sexual health sector.  Her experience as a sexual and dating violence survivor led her to start StandWeSpeak.

She is a Yunus and Youth Fellow, Nominee of the Global Youth Awards 2021, First Generation Activist at Women Ambassadors Forum, Unleash+ Lab for the 2030 SDGs Talent and, a member of the United Nations Sustainable Solutions Development Network. 

She has been invited by the World Bank to present her solution to promote social and gender equality at the “World Bank Group Youth Summit 2022.” Additionally, she has been invited as a speaker at the UNITE 2030’s Youth SDG Summit, Women in Tech APAC,  SexTech Summit 2021 Berlin, and by International Planned Parenthood Federation.

2. Keshav Maheshwari (Operations Manager)

He is a Medical Doctor (graduated from Davao Medical School Foundation). He has previously worked in Anesthesia Department as a Junior Resident Doctor at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Hospital (Mumbai). As a professional, he helps in generating business leads and networking with domain experts.

3. Ishanika Sehgal (Marketing Head)

As an MBA graduate from FLAME University, Pune (Specialized in Digital Marketing), she is an expert in generating creative digital content for social media and marketing.

4. Abhishek Sharma (Web Developer)

With a B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering, SRM, Chennai, Abhishek is a full stack developer, experienced in MERN Stack and ASP.NET

Mae (our AI-driven sexual health chatbot) answers 40,000+ questions from 15,000+ users from 6+ countries every month. Additionally, we have impacted the lives of 30,000+ students through workshops, trained 450+ college students as agents of change, reached 20,000+ listeners on our podcast, provided 300+ expert consultations, built an online community of 10,000+ users, conducted surveys with over 5000+ young adults, and have built partnerships with over 10+ global organizations. Recently, we have also launched StandWeSpeak in South Korea.

1. Vision, Mission, and Values: StandWeSpeak, as the name suggests, is more than a social venture, it is a revolution to help every individual reclaim their voice, choice, and power. I believe our work at StandWeSpeak aligns closely with the mission and values of MIT Solve, which is committed to promoting global mental health and social equity. Our organization's work in sexual and reproductive health is critical to improving the health and well-being of young, vulnerable, and marginalized people, especially in developing countries. 

2. Connect, collaborate, contribute: As a young women entrepreneur from India, working in a highly stigmatized and undervalued domain of sexual health, MIT Solve would provide me with a unique opportunity to connect with the brightest and highly inspired young leaders from around the world who are working in similar fields. This would enable me to gain new perspectives and insights, share best practices, learn new strategies and innovative solutions to tackle sexual and reproductive health challenges.

3. Inspiration and leadership: What intrigues me the most about MIT Solve is that it not only focuses on providing the platform, opportunity, and tools for global leaders but also helps them realize their very own impact plan; by providing the knowledge, inspiration, and skills to become a force for change. Here, I will get to hone my leadership skills and apply the learnings and transformative leadership in spaces of power in my home communities. 

4. Flip the script: I’m particularly interested in this program, because in an era, where technology is being used as a means to solve real-life problems, we are still stuck with years-old method of educating young people about sexual health, and I want to flip the script. I want to use the power of innovation and technology to build and promote our disruptive solution for future generations.

5. Representation: Millions of young people have been suffering through mental health and reproductive health issues for decades. Due to a lack of research, most issues continue to remain under the shackles of silence, shame, and stigma. Young leaders’ voices are vitally needed in spaces where decisions are being made - as they have the zeal to build a better and more equitable world. MIT Solve will help me be prepared to advocate in local, national, and international decision-making spaces, and be a representation we need in the 21st-century.

6. Gender and social equity: I believe that sexual and reproductive health and rights are completely and inextricably intertwined with social and gender equity -as it addresses the underlying factors that perpetuate inequality and discrimination.  Hence, MIT Solve will allow me to use my diverse experiences and extensive contributions to become a leading voice in this domain, and amplify my vision to create a world where equality, agency, and bodily autonomy for everyone exists - thereby contributing to the core value of the MIT Solve.

Our USP lies in our holistic approach:

1. Comprehensive information: Along with psycho-medical information, we also provide legal information regarding abuse, consent, abortion, and more, to users, through chatbot, videos, blogs and podcasts.

2. Psycho-medico-legal expert consultancy: We have experts such as gynecologists and counselors on board to provide psycho-medical services to users. However, in addition to that, to address the urgent needs of abuse, bullying, harassment, abortion, marital rape, etc., we also have legal experts to help users solve their issues.

3. Catering to teenagers and young adults: Most of the other organizations only cater to either Men or Women, however, we also cater to teenagers and young adults.

4. LGBTQ+ inclusive services: We cater to the under-served market i.e., the LGBTQ+ community. Having same-sex relationships was recently made legal in India, however, we still do not have any provision to cater to their sexual and reproductive health needs.

5. AI-driven anonymous chatbot: "Taking the first step is usually the hardest" stands true, especially in this domain. To normalize asking questions regarding sexual health, and help users initiate a conversation, we have built an AI chatbot, that provides non-judgmental and sex-positive answers, anonymously.

6. Product suggestions and other resources: We have tons of additional resources.

7. Scalability: Being a fully-digital platform, it is easily scalable.

In short, we are a fully-digital, one-stop sexual and reproductive health platform, for youth.

Next year-

1 Million chatbot users per month

300+ teleconsultation sessions per month

500+ videos on Sexual and Reproductive Health

Next 5 years

10 Million chatbot users per month

1000+ teleconsultation sessions per month

500+ videos on Sexual and Reproductive Health

Add 5+ languages

Add voice assistant

We have 6 different indicators to measure our impact: 

1. Increase in number of active users on our chatbot: We will track active users on our chatbot on a weekly basis.

2. Increase in average time spent by a user: The number of questions asked as well as the total amount of time spent watching digital content, reading articles, exploring products, etc. will serve as a tool to measure the dissemination of reliable and medically-accurate information.

3. Increase in the number of teleconsultation sessions and products sold to the user: This will have a direct impact on the quality of their lives.

4. Increase in the number of users using resource materials: Such as sexual and reproductive health courses, articles, podcasts, support groups, etc.

5. Partnerships with companies and organizations: Connecting manufacturers and sellers of biodegradable menstrual hygiene and sexual wellness brands with users through advertisements on our platform, will serve as a direct indicator of promoting sustainability amongst the youth.

6. Overall feedback: We will also check the satisfaction level of the users to understand the extent to which the services were helpful in solving their problems.

Inputs:

1. Dedicated Staff and Volunteers: StandWeSpeak recruits and retains a team of passionate and skilled staff members and volunteers who are committed to the organization's mission and vision.
2. Funding and Resources: StandWeSpeak secures financial resources, grants, and in-kind support to sustain its operations, implement programs, and carry out advocacy initiatives.
3. Partnerships and Networks: StandWeSpeak establishes collaborations and partnerships with like-minded organizations, activists, and stakeholders to leverage collective expertise and resources.
4. Research and Data: StandWeSpeak conducts thorough research, collects relevant data, and stays updated on global issues, human rights violations, and systemic injustices to inform its strategies and initiatives.
5. Stakeholder Engagement: StandWeSpeak actively engages with community members, affected individuals, and key stakeholders to ensure their voices and perspectives are considered in its work.

Activities:

1. Awareness Campaigns and Education: StandWeSpeak develops and implements educational programs, workshops, and awareness campaigns to raise public awareness about human rights, social justice, and global issues.
2. Capacity Building and Empowerment: StandWeSpeak provides training, resources, and support to empower individuals, activists, and communities to become effective advocates for social change.
3. Advocacy and Policy Engagement: StandWeSpeak engages in advocacy efforts, lobbying decision-makers, and collaborating with governments and international bodies to influence policy changes that address systemic inequalities and protect human rights.
4. Community Mobilization: StandWeSpeak organizes community events, rallies, and grassroots movements to mobilize individuals, foster dialogue, and encourage collective action for social justice.
5. Research and Analysis: StandWeSpeak conducts research, data analysis, and impact assessments to inform its programs, track progress, and identify areas for improvement.
6. Collaboration and Networking: StandWeSpeak actively collaborates with partner organizations, activists, and grassroots movements to amplify its impact, share resources, and foster a broader movement for change.

Outputs:

1. Increased Awareness and Knowledge: StandWeSpeak's initiatives result in an increased level of awareness and understanding among individuals and communities regarding global issues, human rights violations, and systemic injustices.
2. Empowered Advocates: StandWeSpeak equips individuals with the knowledge, skills, and tools to actively advocate for social justice, human rights, and equality.
3. Policy Engagement: StandWeSpeak's advocacy efforts lead to increased engagement with decision-makers, governments, and international bodies, influencing policy changes and legal reforms.
4. Mobilized Communities: StandWeSpeak's community mobilization activities lead to increased participation, dialogue, and collective action within communities, fostering a sense of solidarity and empowerment.

Outcomes:

1. Improved Human Rights: StandWeSpeak's initiatives contribute to the protection and promotion of human rights, resulting in tangible improvements in the lives of individuals and communities.
2. Reduced Inequalities: StandWeSpeak's efforts address systemic inequalities, leading to a more equitable distribution of resources, opportunities, and social benefits.
3. Strengthened Institutions: StandWeSpeak's advocacy work encourages institutional reforms and shifts that promote transparency, accountability, and justice within social, political, and economic systems.
4. Increased Civic Engagement: StandWeSpeak's activities foster a culture of active citizenship, encouraging individuals to engage in peaceful activism and contribute to positive social change.
5. Enhanced Global Solidarity: StandWeSpeak's collaborations and networking initiatives strengthen global solidarity, fostering connections and shared responsibility among individuals, communities, and organizations worldwide.

Impact: 

1. Sustainable Social Change: StandWeSpeak contributes to sustainable, long-term social change by addressing root causes, influencing policies, and transforming societal attitudes

Artifical Intelligence