Effectiveness of an Online Safety Tool for Canadian Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence

Testing an Internet-based Safety Decision Aid for Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence

The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of an interactive, online safety decision aid among diverse Canadian women who are experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV). The investigators will also explore how the online intervention works, and whether it has different effects for different groups of women.

1 in 3 Canadian women experience IPV in their lifetimes. Over time, chronic stress of living in an abusive relationship has been shown to contribute to depression, anxiety and PTSD. Safety planning to reduce the risk of physical and emotional harm in abusive situations is one of the most widely recommended interventions for women in abusive relationship. However, fewer than 1 in 5 Canadian women access support from violence services to assist them in safety planning. Rural, Aboriginal, racialized, immigrant, sexual minority women and women who prioritize their privacy face particular barriers to accessing information and support for safety planning.

We adapted an interactive, online safety decision aid (SDA) recently developed and tested in the U.S. (Glass and colleagues, 2010) so that it applies to diverse groups of Canadian women, and extends the focus on emotional safety. The tool was revised based on a pilot testing for content and usability with 30 women (15 women who had experienced IPV and 15 service providers/experts). In this study, we test the effectiveness of this new tool, called "I CAN Plan 4 Safety" in a sample of 450 women from 3 provinces (ON, BC, New Brunswick). Women will be randomly assigned to complete either the personalized online safety decision aid (intervention) or an online tool which contains general risk and safety information (usual care control). Both tools are located on a confidential, password protected website. After initial completion of the online tools, they will be asked to login to the websites 3, 6 and 12 months later to complete standard outcome assessments. Women may access the information and resources in the online tools at any time for a 12 month period after they enrol in the study.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Women
• 19 years and older,
• English-speaking,
• Living in Ontario, New Brunswick, or British Columbia,
• Reports current physical, sexual or emotional abuse in the context of coercive control from a current or former partner (boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, or intimate/sexual partner)
• Expresses comfort with and access to a safe computer with internet
• Access to safe email and mailing address

Exclusion Criteria:

• Men
• Under 19 years of age
• Cannot read/speak English
• Living outside of the 3 study sites
• Uncomfortable using a computer or internet
• No access to a safe computer with internet
• No access to safe email and mailing address
• Does not report current violence from an intimate partner