Helping Child Survivors of Sexual Assault: A Content Analysis of a Hotline

Background:
In a national survey of adults, 42% of female rape victims were first raped before the age of 18, and 12% of female rape victims and 28% of male rape victims were first raped when they were age 10 or younger. For these traumatic events, hotlines are a widely-implemented service modality connecting callers to resources. However, exiguous scholarly literature exists to inform sexual assault hotlines on how to best support victims of child sexual assault. The purpose of this paper is to understand the expressed needs of child victim-survivors themselves, family members, and service providers when utilizing hotline services and offer training recommendations accordingly.

Methods:
A retrospective analysis of archival data was performed. Five-years of documented hotline call sheets spanning 2008-2012 comprised the sampling frame (N=1970). Of these, 223 call sheets identified the primary-victim as a minor (ages 0-17). A summative content analysis was employed to examine themes, including: “services requested/needs,” “emotions expressed/experienced,” and “contradictions.” Primary-victims, the victims’ family members, and professionals were contrasted to highlight the various skills and resources needed by hotline workers depending on the type of caller. Quantitative variables documented by the agency were analyzed via SPSS to further explore themes found.

Results:
Family members constituted more than half (58%) of all hotline calls regarding child victim-survivors. Professionals comprised 34% of callers, and approximately 8% of calls were made by primary-victims (i.e., minors calling about themselves). Of calls by family members, 72% were from the child’s mother, with the remaining 28% divided among grandmothers, fathers, and aunts. Callers accessed the hotline within 72-hours of the assault approximately 50% of the time, and in almost 69% of calls there was a report of sexual assault with physical contact. The age of minor victims had a bimodal distribution – with one mode peaking at age 4 and the other at age 15.

Qualitative data revealed differences between primary-victims, family members, and professionals in each category identified for analysis, including distinctions regarding: the use of social support, service-seeking behavior, and emotions expressed. Minors almost exclusively called the hotline for crisis-counseling and were found to ask for help on how to disclose to others; whereas adult callers largely accessed the hotline for procedural information (e.g., navigating service systems, reporting the assault to child protection and/or to law enforcement). Details of these and multiple other themes will be presented with rich description, including how themes were derived and explanations for how the data was managed for limitations.

Implications:
The frequent contact with family members, particularly mothers, indicate the need for specialized responses that are empathetic, empowering, and specifically targeted. The immediacy of calls (i.e., within 72-hours) reinforces the importance of crisis intervention skills for staff/volunteers and points to the influence hotlines may have on the trajectory of early intervention efforts, including how child victim-survivors are assisted in navigating their disclosure to family and/or professionals. Further analysis and implications will be discussed in-depth, as well as future recommendations for research.