Hannah:
Hannah is a text based, chat style video game that aims to raise awareness of some of the complex elements involved in Domestic Violence (DV), and help family and friends provide non-judgmental positive emotional and practical support to those experiencing DV.
DV is common in Australia with one in three women reporting that they have experienced violence by a male since the age of 15. The responses of friends and family in DV situations are incredibly important, as negative and uninformed attitudes results in less understanding, empathy and support being provided to survivors of violence and can make it much more difficult for women to end abusive relationships.
Games have been utilised in educational contexts to ‘teach’ and explore empathy, and frameworks have been developed to help empathy educators analyse and choose games to teach identified empathy educational outcomes. Hannah is being developed based on respected research around utilising games to help teach skills and explore different life experiences, as well as the personal experiences of women who have experienced domestic violence, and the family and friends who supported them during this time.
Hannah is designed so that family and friends wanting to help, can play it in order to develop a deeper understanding of the situation of someone experiencing DV, their experiences, feelings, and the difficulties they encounter attempting to gain support from support services. The game will aim to model and teach ways that the character can provide non judgmental support, empower a DV victim, and help them on their complex journey to accessing support services.
You can also read a little more about Hannah here: https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2016/03/australian-developer-creates-game-to-help-domestic-violence-victims/