An online anonymous service is offering support to young people who are victims abuse, criminal exploitation and sexual exploitation.

Sara Rowbotham, deputy leader of Rochdale Council, has been working with young people in Waltham Forest to develop the ‘Is This Ok?’ chatbot.

Working for the NHS, Sara detailed over 180 cases of sexual abuse in Rochdale between 2005 – 2011 and told an official enquiry bosses had ignored warnings of grooming and exploitation.

Nine men were convicted of sex trafficking and other offences including rape, trafficking girls for sex and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child in May 2012 as a result.

A BBC mini-series about the case called Three Girls was aired in 2017 in which Sara was portrayed by Maxine Peake.

Her latest project, the chatbot, is a browser-based service that connects young people with service professionals in their area who can provide immediate support.

She has been supported in her development of the service by consulting with young people in Waltham Forest.

The service will instantly connect a young person with an operator if that individual says they feels unsafe.

It will also connect young people with local support services tailored to their needs and professionals from Childline and Missing People.

Sara said one of the key issues with developing the chatbot was that young people would often feel like ‘everything will get worse if anyone finds out’, which is why the service is entirely anonymous.

“We initially wanted the chatbot to be based on a social media platform, however we realised that young people were very uncomfortable with how social media was harvesting their data, so to ensure they felt we were trustworthy and anonymous, we moved the service to be browser-based”, Sara explained.

Kamahl Miller, 23, one of young people Sara consulted, said: “I’m very wary of my data being used by social media companies and I think this is such a great concept that I wish was available when I was in education as an outlet to speak to someone outside of my immediate family.”

The service, which has been running since September has had 170 unique engagements.

The young people consulted in creating the chatbot believe its popularity is due to young people feeling more comfortable speaking anonymously to a stranger than to a teacher, the police, or a parent.

Ellie-May Morris, 15, added: “Having someone to talk to that doesn’t already know you so you don’t feel like you’re being judged is very helpful.

“Having a skilled professional to talk to on the other side is great because if you talk to your friends about something they do not have the experience or training to help you properly.”

Benjamin Dibba, 18, added: “The most important thing is that in schools there is that stigma between teachers and students and there is always going to be that friction between them. It makes it hard to feel like you can speak to them.

“All young people really want if someone to speak to and being able to express yourself to a professional is very helpful.”

To access the chatbot visit: www.isthisok.org.uk