Instant messaging could be the newest way for victims of sexual assault to find anonymous help.
A new online sexual assault hotline was officially released Monday by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, or RAINN, known for its national phone hotline.
While the phone line is still available, victims of sexual assault and their friends and families can now also use an instant messaging service to connect with trained professionals.
Rita Lawrence, a victim advocate at Alachua County Victims Services & Rape Crisis Center, said her group has helped staff a pilot version of the hotline for about a year.
"People are definitely using it, and have been," Lawrence said.
About half of all assault victims are younger than 18, and 80 percent are younger than 30, said Katherine Hull, a spokeswoman for RAINN. In past years, these victims have increasingly turned to the Internet for help and information.
"People just prefer to communicate online," Hull said. "Unfortunately, that type of help is leaving them susceptible to unreliable advice."
Victims often depend on blogs and message boards for information, she said.
At the Alachua County center, Lawrence said, all hotline operators receive 30 hours of standard crisis center training and spend 10 additional hours learning the system.
In addition to being more reliable, the new hotline is also more anonymous than most Web sites, Hull said. It doesn't record transcripts or keep computers' IP addresses. The hotline also includes information on deleting a computer's history so other users won't be able to see what sites were visited.
"There is no evidence," Hull said. "There is no history."
Lawrence said she has helped victims work through a variety of different problems with the online hotline, including what to do immediately following assault and how to handle troubling flashbacks.
For some, typing is easier than talking, she said.
"If I weren't sure I could speak without breaking down, texting might be easier," she said.
The hotlines can be accessed at www.rainn.org or 1-800-656-HOPE.
