Abstract
BACKGROUND: Survivors of domestic violence (DV) often encounter barriers when accessing professional support services. These barriers arise, for example, from uncertainty in identifying violence, limited knowledge of support options, and psychological barriers such as fear or shame. To address these challenges, the European project IMPROVE developed AinoAid™, a data-secure and multilingual website with an integrated chatbot. Developed in collaboration with psychotherapists, the chatbot provides low-threshold, anonymous, empathetic access to information on domestic violence support services, risk assessment and legal procedures. Ultimately, AinoAid™ seeks to serve as a safe, informative gateway to protection and support. METHODS: Employing a mixed-methods design, Study 1 involved interviews with 80 DV survivors from Austria, Germany, Finland, France and Spain to explore their openness and needs concerning an AI chatbot for 24/7 support. Furthermore, Study 2 was a German evaluation survey of 669 users, assessing perceived safety, usability, utility and interaction quality of AinoAid™. RESULTS: In Study 1, interviewees predominantly reported limited prior chatbot experience, yet expressed remarkably positive attitudes toward the potential use of a chatbot tailored for DV support. They emphasized the importance of data safety, chatbot accessibility and usability, offering suggestions on chatbot content tone and promotion. The evaluation in Study 2 indicated a positive overall rating of the chatbot by users, with perceived safety emerging as the most highly rated feature. Study participants suggested improving the chatbot's empathy, engagement, input comprehension, follow-up integration, and memory of previous statements. Additionally, users called for more personalized information, actionable guidance and direct links to relevant support services. CONCLUSIONS: Our evaluation confirms that the AI chatbot AinoAid™ functions as a safe, accessible, and effective gateway to protection and support for DV survivors. Its perceived great strength, its impartiality due to its non-human nature, presents, on the other hand, also a significant challenge in meeting the high expectations for human-like, empathetic, and dynamic conversations in such a sensitive context. However, we anticipate that sustained usage and continuous training will even further enhance the AI ability to fully meet the evolving needs of domestic violence survivors.