Even through Text, There Is That Connection: User Experiences on Chat and Text Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Assault Hotlines

Background and Purpose: Providers focused on intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual assault (SA) have long used phone hotline services as a way to connect with survivors, and have increasingly added chat and text components to hotline services, first on the national level and then at local community-based programs (NDVH n.d., Moylan et al., 2022; Wood et al., 2022). Hotline is the traditional point of entry to IPV and SA services, helping to connect survivors and with support, information, and referrals (Goodman & Smyth, 2011; Macy et al., 2009). The use of chat and text (SMS)-based approaches has proliferated as communities and providers seek new ways to reach violence survivors and their formal and informal support networks (Wood et al., 2022). Despite increasing use of chat and text modalities on violence-focused hotlines, scant research has been conducted on its use, especially focused on user perspectives with local agency hotlines. The current study aims to expand our knowledge about IPV/SA digital hotline services through the research question: What is the user experience of interpersonal violence-focused chat and text hotline services?

Methods: An exploratory sequential mixed-methods process evaluation design was used to address the research question. The study team partnered with a chat and text hotline run by a local IPV and SA service agency in a large metropolitan area in the Southwest United States. Data streams include 396 de-identified transcripts from chat and text service interactions selected randomly over a one-year period, semi-structured interviews conducted with 16 service users of chat/text hotline services at the agency, and 171 responses to a web-based brief client survey administered to chat/text service users after engagement with the hotline. Thematic analysis was used for qualitative data and descriptive and bivariate analysis was used for quantitative data, with data integration procedures occurring at the point of analysis.

Results: Service users of chat and text hotlines for IPV and SA perceive these services to be, for the most part, safe, accessible, and supportive platforms for guidance and resources. Four themes articulate user-defined service experiences and are confirmed by quantitative survey findings: 1) Chat and text hotlines offer a safer way to reach out for help, especially when phone is not an option; 2) Chat and text hotlines create a more accessible modality of support for some survivors and community members; 3) Chat and text hotline staff foster support and connection to feel heard after violence and harm; and 4) Chat and text hotline staff provide resources and guidance needed to address the impacts of violence and prevent future harm.

Conclusions and Implications: Chat and text hotlines connected with local IPV and SA service organizations could be an important component of a community response to violence and a critical avenue for access to secondary and tertiary prevention services for survivors. Programs with well trained and effectively supported chat/text hotline staff, who have access to appropriate technology, are well compensated, and can link survivors with key available resources, may be uniquely positioned to expand their community impact.