Technology can be a useful tool to support women who are subjected to domestic abuse, by being experienced as private, unintimidating and non-judgemental. Technology is also more readily available than in-person support, meaning that victim-survivors can choose when and where to access it, which is particularly positive for those who feel more isolated.
Technological tools can be particularly suited to young people due to often being their preferred method of communication. Digital interventions like chatbots may also provide a level of privacy that in-person support does not, which is likely to be particularly important for victim-survivors who could be overheard by the perpetrator.
There are also negatives to technology use. Victim-survivors may fear over security and privacy of personal data, and have concerns over being tracked by the perpetrator. The accessibility of technology is a further consideration. Are minoritised groups such as neurodiverse, deaf, older survivors, those with socioeconomic constraints and survivors who struggle with literacy able to access digital technologies in their current forms? Technological interventions may also be outdated and contain broken hyperlinks.
The ethics of creating a chatbot
Our Horizon Europe funded project, ISEDA (Innovative Solutions to Eliminate Domestic Abuse) involving 15 partners from nine European countries, is currently developing an informational chatbot to support victim-survivors of domestic abuse. It is critical that the project works to mitigate these potential pitfalls by learning from existing research in the area. We spoke with the developers and facilitators of FollowItApp, a mobile app designed to support victim-survivors who have been subjected to stalking in Scotland, developed by the Media Co-op alongside the Scottish Women’s Rights Centre (SWRC) and Rape Crisis Scotland (RCS). During these discussions, consideration of the ethical issues of developing technological tools was essential.
We know that perpetrators use technology to abuse victim-survivors. Many apps assume that a victim-survivor has private access to their phone, though this may not be the case. Location services are used by many existing apps in order to, for example, locate support services for women. However, this function can also be used maliciously by perpetrators to track victim-survivors, and chatbot developers should be cognisant of how this could jeopardise women’s safety.
In order to successfully support women who have been subjected to domestic abuse, the chatbot needs to be trauma-informed (in terms of language and any imagery used), particularly as research suggests that some existing chatbots are insensitive. Current research highlights the importance of empathy within digital technologies, alongside language being reaffirming, validating, sensitive, non-judgemental, positive and friendly. Developing the chatbot in conjunction with women’s services – those who work in the area of gender-based violence and alongside victim-survivors – will help to ensure that the chatbot is fit for purpose in this regard.
Chatbot longevity
A key area to be considered is who will own/host, fund and update the chatbot, to ensure that it continues to be maintained sufficiently. Currently, within the ISEDA project, funding is available for the setup of a pilot chatbot. It is, however, unclear what will happen to the tool when the project ceases in terms of continued funding. There is also the question of who has the capacity, experience and knowledge to own and update the platform, going forward.
Women’s services are equipped with the knowledge around gender-based violence and trauma, work closely with victim-survivors and have the ability to design sensitive resources and messaging. They are, however, underfunded and already working at capacity, in addition to potentially lacking the technological expertise needed to update and maintain a chatbot. On the other hand, technology companies possess this technological expertise, but may not have gender-based violence knowledge.
The importance of evaluation
The chatbot will be evaluated in the pilot stage of this project to ensure that it is fit for purpose. Groups of victim-survivors, professionals from third-sector/non-governmental women’s organisations and police will participate in this. Evaluation questions have been developed to assess the technological elements of the chatbot, how well it meets the needs of victim-survivors and the extent to which victim-survivors feel safe while, or as a result of, using the chatbot. Ongoing evaluation is key to ensuring the chatbot remains up to date, accurate, trauma-informed and technologically sound.
Conclusion
The ISEDA chatbot will give more women across several European countries access to information about domestic abuse support in their local area. We recommend that to support its longevity, the women’s sector is allocated funds to take the chatbot forward, by being able to recruit/work alongside staff (including those with technology expertise) to continue to provide a trauma-informed, sensitive tool for women. These funds, should not, however, take away vital monies from women’s services which provide much-needed support to diverse groups of women, including those who do not use or have access to technology. Whatever decisions are made in relation to providing the chatbot service, it is imperative that the tool is hosted and deployed within all countries in an ethical way, with the safety of women at the forefront of decision making.
Kate Butterby is a postdoctoral researcher at Glasgow Caledonian University. Nancy Lombard is a Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at Glasgow Caledonian University.
Developing a chatbot to support victim-survivors who are subjected to domestic abuse: considerations and ethical dilemmas by Kate Butterby and Nancy Lombard for the Journal of Gender-Based Violence is available on the Bristol University Press Digital here.
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