From the Andes to the Hotline: My Summer Internship with Programa Aurora
Stepping into the work
This summer, I worked with Programa Aurora, the branch of Peru’s Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations that operates Línea 100 - a 24/7 national hotline for survivors of domestic and gender-based violence. I reported to a director overseeing the hotline and split my time between remote work and on-site operations in Lima.
In the first month, I focused on data and strategy. I worked on analysing dashboards to track hotline performance, like call volumes, response times, and escalation rates, and I flagged service gaps across regions. For example, I found several rural provinces with low call numbers, which likely reflected a lack of outreach rather than safety concerns. I also worked on identifying peak call windows when more counsellors were needed, an adjustment that could reduce wait times for thousands of callers.
The second month was spent on-site. I visited Women’s Emergency Centres (CEMs), shelters, and Línea 100’s call centre, where trained social workers, psychologists, and lawyers handle real-time crises. Sitting behind a counsellor’s desk, hearing them calmly guide a caller to safety while coordinating with a rapid response team, gave me context no spreadsheet could.
Stories that changed my perspective
One afternoon, a counsellor answered a call in Quechua. The caller, a young mother from a remote Andean village, was whispering for help. Hearing my childhood language used in that moment was surreal and emotional—it reminded me of the women I grew up around, many of whom never had a safe number to dial. The counsellor coordinated with a Servicio de Atención Urgente team, a police contact, and a local shelter, proving how vital cultural and linguistic understanding is in building trust.
Later, I interviewed a survivor who told me she had called Línea 100 three times before leaving her abusive partner. “The first calls were just to see if anyone would listen,” she admitted.
That conversation taught me that success in this work isn’t measured by one decision or statistic; sometimes a single answered call is a step toward safety.
Challenges behind the system
Working inside Aurora exposed a side of Peru I had long suspected but hadn’t seen so closely. Shelters are overbooked, some regions have only a handful of trained staff, and bureaucracy slows even urgent interventions. It’s no wonder Peru has one of Latin America’s highest rates of intimate partner violence, with less than a third of women seeking help from authorities.
I often felt conflicted: while analysing performance data, I couldn’t ignore the systemic obstacles that numbers alone couldn’t fix. I also had to adjust my mindset.
Lessons I’ll carry forward
This internship was less about dramatic solutions and more about building context. I left with an understanding of how multiple agencies, hotline staff, police, social workers, and healthcare professionals intersect to protect women, and how fragile those systems can be when underfunded or mistrusted.
More personally, it was a return to my roots. Seeing a hotline counsellor comfort someone in Quechua reminded me of the fear and silence I saw as a child. That moment reinforced why I pursued education and why I want to use data and strategy to create social change.
I didn’t “solve” gender violence in Peru, but I left knowing every small improvement—every extra counsellor shift, every bilingual campaign, every answered call—can change someone’s life.
This internship experience was supported by the INSEAD Hoffmann Institute Impact Internship Stipend.
