Hithawathi goes live as ‘Your Confidante’ in cyber space

This project titles as ‘Hithawathi-Your Confidante’ which was initially commenced in January 2014. Hithawathi project is a help desk designed for the victims and casualties of technology/internet related activities. The project was initiated by the community members of Internet Society – Sri Lanka Chapter (ISOC-LK) and LK Domain Registry (LKDR). 

It is connected and privileged to get assistance of national level organisations such as Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Response Team (SLCERT), TechCERT, Sri Lanka Police and individuals such as students’ counsellors, legal advisors attached to different organisations, members of ISOC-LK and LKDR. Some of the individuals have been serving voluntarily. 

Hithawathi can be described as a supporter, a listener, a guide, a helper to internet users, especially young girls and ladies, teenagers and minors… ‘Hithawathi’ educates public recognising incidents related to cyber harassment, cyber stalks, black mail incidents, cyber bulling, etc... . Also ‘Hithawathi’ makes you aware of how to prevent such incidents and is always there to guide if such situations occur.

Hithawathi project mainly concerns women, children and those who are victimised or looking for information, however, it is not limited only for females. Anybody can request help or assistance from Hithawathi, regardless of their gender, age, language or any other limitations. The guidance is served in all three languages – Sinhala, Tamil and English.

This helpdesk can be contacted through different means – Hotline-telephone number +94 11 421 6062, email address – [email protected] to make any request or seek assistance/guidance. Furthermore, it comes up with a website (www.hithawathi.lk), a blog (https://hithawati.blogspot.com) and a Facebook page (www.facebook.com/hithawathi) sharing knowledge, guidelines (of popular social networking sites), safety tips, etc... The website provides guidelines to be safe from some of the harmful internet frauds, identify them and even report them.

Currently the hotline is available during office hours – Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is hoping to extend the service 24 X 7 in future. 

If you happen to meet with any cyber space/internet related issue and are not able to figure-out what is to be done exactly or to whom to talk, then you may contact Hithawathi. Hithawathi is glad to support you specially directing you on what to be done. 

In some of these cases, the victim may have to make a complaint at the Police yet feeling uncomfortable to discuss some of the incidents with a male partner. Hithawathi caters for issues of this type through their helpline, which is handled by well trained and trustworthy female officers, who are willing to kindly listen to the victim and guide to the correct path. 

In addition to the help desk, Hithawathi project will be conducting awareness sessions targeting the young and female crowd in the country. 

For more information refer: www.hithawathi.lk.