Can the government really help? Online information for women experiencing violence

Abstract

Abstract Domestic violence against women is a significant social and public health problem that requires a varied social service response for abused women and their children. Increasingly, this service response includes online sources and resources. Using content analysis methods, we examined the Canadian provincial E-Government response to providing information to women exposed to domestic violence. Our overarching question was “if an abused woman went to her province’s government website for information and help and used common search strategies, what would she find?” Our results provide evidence regarding not only how this key social service information is currently provided on provincial government websites, but also how, from the user’s perspective, these services could be improved. More broadly, however, these results – when set in the context of other responses to violence against women from government and non-government service providers at multiple levels – provide an opportunity to consider how the information landscape is evolving in the context of online tools, and whether this evolution (planned or serendipitous) is happening in a way that will ultimately benefit women exposed to violence.