The project was assigned to the Norwegian Centre Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, NKVTS by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, the Ministry of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion, and the Ministry of Health and Care Services. The project has been financed as part of the Government’s plan of action against violence in close relationships 2014-2017. Two previous inquiries concerning national web portals, also conducted by NKVTS, have served as the foundation of this project. A concrete proposal was brought forth in these inquiries about the establishment of a telephone service closely associated to a national web portal. As part of the assignment for this report it was expected that the need of a hotline should be assessed in association with the new web portal.
The Council of Europe’s Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence requires that European countries provide a free national telephone service that is open to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Norwegian Shelter Act (2010) obliges all municipalities to establish telephone services associated with their shelters that are available to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Many will interpret this to be in line with the Council of Europe’s convention. Yet in our report we suggest that the target group mentioned in the assignment needs to be expanded to include also individuals subjected to violence by more remote acquaintances or strangers, persons who use violence against other people, as well as family members and professionals working in the field.
This report is based on the need to develop the telephone service as a national service, but with the possibility of being operated locally. We suggest the lowest age to be included in the target group to be set at 16 years, which is in line with the proposed age limit for the national web portal.
Our report is based on two main sources: Norwegian studies about the experiences of service users and interviews with employees from ten different telephone services. We have also contacted the umbrella organizations of the shelters and one competence center; which on a national basis are responsible for providing expertise for all sexual assault centers in the country. Additionally we had a seminar with representatives from the five Regional centers on violence, traumatic stress and suicide prevention (RVTS). Our assessment and conclusions are based on an analysis of the interviews and our discussions with the other informants.
Service users’ experiences conveyed in earlier studies
We know that only a minority of victims of violence seek help/assistance, yet we do not know why. Most of our knowledge concerning service users is based on narratives and statements given by those who have actively sought help. Some reasons as to why so few seek out help are discussed in service user studies, others relate to statements from people who have approached services. The lack of available low-threshold services, the victim’s feelings of shame and guilt and the fact that many find it hard to put one’s experience into words, are some of the reasons mentioned for not seeking help. Furthermore studies show that the victims’ interpretations of their own experiences and their lack of knowledge as to what kind of assistance can be provided can prevent individuals from seeking help.
Potential service users need to know what kinds of services exist, what kind of assistance they can provide and how to get in contact with them. Many use the internet in search of information, yet several services found here do not exist anymore. This indicates a poor quality control of information on websites. To get adequate information it is required to have access to reliable sites that work well. Service users might not always have the energy to carry out a proper investigation as to what type of assistance is available and often they give up.
Web sites are organized differently, and the information must be arranged in a way that is easy to understand for users. Many service users have suggested the establishment of a particular web-site where all the information needed could easily be found “just-one-click-away”. Such suggestions correspond to the plans and decisions already made regarding the establishment of a national web portal. Yet service users first and foremost want someone to talk to when seeking help. “Tailored” information and competent guidance on their particular situation cannot be achieved through general information, but through dialogue. They need somebody to talk to, or a professional with good competence and ability to listen and be a fellow human being.
Some individuals consider anonymity and confidentiality to be important factors when seeking help and information. For them a good starting point may be going online anonymously and obtaining information through various interactive solutions on the net or through chatting services. Later on, they might wish to search for more direct contact with the services. In this way, more people can be motivated to search for advice and assistance.
How existing telephone services are used
With the exception of one, all of the telephone services included in our interview study provide tailored assistance targeted towards specific groups of victims of violence, such as women, men, children, elderly or ethnic minorities or they address specific categories of violent acts, such as rape, incest, criminal acts or violence in close relationships. A common request brought up by callers was the need of someone who could relate to their specific problems and possibly refer them to other services if a more specialized type of help was needed. “To listen and guide” seemed to be important features of telephone operators’ assistance to callers. Most callers needed to be met with understanding and have the option of being able to “release some emotional tension.”
Some services referred callers to other services for follow-up after the first telephone call, while others could be in contact with particular callers over a long period of time, for some of them over several years. Amongst those who were followed-up over long periods of time were; youth subjected to honor-related violence, sexually abused individuals, elderly exposed to violence and abuse or individuals who had been severely neglected. A common trend found amongst most telephone services was that they had very few ethnic minority callers. There were some exceptions; these were the telephone services that profiled themselves towards specific problems encountered by ethnic minorities.
Some of the telephone services had introduced chatting services on the internet. There were diverging opinions as to whether or not chatting was a suitable method. Chatting is first and foremost used by younger individuals. Some had experienced that chatting was time-consuming and not always efficient. Others experienced that chatting online could motivate people to call a telephone service at a later point in time.
Professionals also contacted telephone services when they needed guidance and advice in helping a person they had encountered through their work. Also, close family or friends of persons that were exposed to violence could contact the telephone service in situations where they needed information, for instance concerning legal proceedings, how to handle threats or in cases of suspected ongoing abuse.
Experiences of employees at the Regional centers on violence, traumatic stress and suicide prevention (RVTS).
Professionals at the RVTS centers argued that there are good reasons to establish one central telephone service, with one joint telephone number, for persons that have experienced violence. Professionals in primary care who come in contact with service users who have experienced violence do not always know what instances to refer people to or what kind of assistance is available in the municipality. The RVTS staff had experienced that skills and experience often are associated with individual employees and not necessarily rooted in the service itself. Sometimes it was purely coincidental as to what type of assistance the person who had been exposed to violence received. At the same time they emphasized that the needs of those exposed to violence should be met by already existing services. Shelters were mentioned as an example of such services. They handle many requests from victims and they refer to and collaborate well with other services. Employees at the RVTS argued that a national telephone could be operated locally by some of the shelters, where a caller could be automatically put through to a local telephone service after dialing the main number. In this case shelters would need to be trained to deal with several new target groups.
Viewpoints of employees in current telephone services
A common view amongst our informants was that improved access to information through telephone services could be of great significance for persons exposed to violence. However informants had diverging ideas as to how this should be done and by whom. Some argued that it would be beneficial to link a national telephone to a national web portal and in that way reach out to more people than is possible at present. Several of the small telephone services are not very visible today, and one national telephone number might improve the visibility of these services. A successfully marketed national telephone could also reach out to individuals who live far away from the closest assistance service. Other informants argued that there was no need to establish a national telephone since already existing services meet the needs of the public as would a national web portal when established. Also pointed out was that a national telephone would not be necessary if the municipalities actually fulfilled the Shelter Act and offered a 24 hour open telephone service to the public affiliated to the shelters. Some informants argued that financial resources should instead be used to improve existing services and to establish 24-hour open rape crisis centers with an affiliated telephone service in each county.
Some informants had good collaboration with shelters and others who work with victims of violence, while others spoke of collaboration across services as coincidental or missing. Some had experienced that it was often up to individuals to create collaboration and exchange knowledge. Some informants were anxious about their service being superfluous and that their expertise accumulated over many years would not be of use if a national telephone was established. Another risk mentioned was that the possibility to follow up people with experiences of violence over time, offered by some of the current services, could also fall away.
Those who work at the largest telephone services and staff in umbrella organizations welcomed a national telephone service for people exposed to violence. It was stated that this was “long overdue” and that this type of phone service would relieve the already overloaded services. It was emphasized that a national telephone could provide expertise in this field in providing callers with solid and professional advice and assistance. At the same time informants defined and used the term ‘expertise’ in different ways. Some used ‘expertise’ in terms of work methods or procedures, others used it when talking about the level and amount of knowledge in the field of domestic violence and rape and often in combination of having knowledge of available local services.
Conclusion
In conclusion we have found that there are good reasons to establish a national telephone service, with a common telephone number, for persons exposed to violence. We have placed great emphasis on the opinions expressed by service users in our assessment of the need for a national telephone service. We assume their descriptions of the difficulties in finding where they can receive help are applicable to the entire country. The impressions we get from our interviews with telephone operators in existing telephone services are supported by the viewpoints of the employees of the Regional centers on violence, traumatic stress and suicide prevention (RVTS), as well as by several qualitative reports about people exposed to violence. Information on how the current telephone services are used reinforces the impression that there is a need for a national telephone line. But these considerations are not without reservations. The following criteria are central conditions for the success of a national telephone service;
- A free of charge, easily accessible, 24/365 available telephone service.
- One telephone number that is easy to remember.
- That the service is well known to the whole population and for particularly exposed groups.
- A close association information of a high standard.
- Availability to all kinds of users no matter what language they speak, their ethnicity or disabilities.
- Knowledge and competence central actor and/or several local actors.
- Delimitation of the tasks.
- Communication between practice fields (all sorts of instances), web portal and the telephone services.