MARIA — Honduras's AI Virtual Assistant for Violence-Against-Women Prevention

In April 2024, Honduras's Secretaría de Seguridad and Policía Nacional, working with the UN Development Programme's regional Infosegura project and national bodies including the National Statistics Institute and the Honduran Youth Institute, launched MARIA (Módulo Automatizado de Atención y Respuesta a la Información) — a free, confidential AI virtual assistant aimed at women, girls and adolescents affected by violence.

MARIA operates 24/7 through a dedicated website and mobile-accessible chat, using artificial intelligence to help users identify warning signs of risk, receive legal orientation, and locate available support services and emergency numbers. It is explicitly positioned as a first point of contact that complements — rather than replaces — Honduras's emergency hotlines.

By mid-2025, government and UNDP sources reported that MARIA had received more than 2,000 messages from across the country with questions related to violence against women. This figure comes from official communications rather than an independently audited dataset, and no data has been published on case outcomes, response accuracy, or user satisfaction. The tool remains active as of this writing, with no reported discontinuation.

Read the full analysis: https://www.laprensa.hn/sucesos/honduras-lanzan-chatbot-maria-prevenir-violencia-AL19034884