American Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
ISSN (Online): 2378-7031
DOI: 10.46568/2378-7031
From Disclosure to Support: A Scoping Review of AI-Enabled First-Contact Responses to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence
Affiliation
Solbach Laskay1*, Pinsault Walsh, Chance Larsen
Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital Research Center, University of Montreal Affiliated Research Center, Montreal, QC, Canada
Citation: Laskay S, Walsh P, Larsen C. “Therapy across the Species Divide: Communication, Welfare, and the Ethics of Interpreting Animal Experience”. American Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol 11, no. 3, 2026.
Copyright: © 2025 Laskay S, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a potential resource for strengthening the initial stages of support available to individuals affected by sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), including intimate partner and domestic violence. Proposed applications extend across helplines, healthcare services, specialist support organisations, online reporting environments, legal assistance platforms and other digital pathways. Despite growing interest, the extent of the available evidence, the developmental stage of existing applications and the quality of their evaluation are not yet clearly established. This review therefore sought to examine where and how AI is being applied, assess the maturity of the evidence, and identify important implementation, safety and research gaps.
Methods: A scoping review was undertaken and reported in accordance with the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). The Population–Concept–Context framework guided the review of AI-based technologies designed to support first-contact, immediate or early-stage responses. Searches were conducted in Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection and PubMed, with additional targeted searches of IEEE Xplore and the ACM Digital Library. Eligible records were screened using predefined criteria, relevant information was extracted through a structured charting process, and findings were summarised descriptively.
Results: The primary database searches retrieved 187 records, from which 21 sources were included. Supplementary searching generated 539 additional records or candidates; following assessment of 27 full-text publications, 6 further sources fulfilled the eligibility requirements. A total of 27 sources were therefore included. The literature encompassed AI-supported conversational assistance, emergency and specialist-service screening and triage, analysis of social media disclosures and online help-seeking, survivor-informed chatbot development, legal and support-service navigation, and speech-related technologies. Most studies concentrated on technical accuracy, system characteristics, usability, acceptability or audit-based findings. Evidence examining AI within established service workflows was absent, while outcomes relating to survivor wellbeing, successful connection with services and potential harms were infrequently evaluated.
Conclusions: Current evidence on AI-supported early responses to SGBV is diverse but remains at a relatively preliminary stage. Existing research has predominantly examined individual tools and prototypes rather than their effects across complete support pathways. Greater attention is needed to human oversight, escalation procedures, accountability, equitable access, digital safety and effective handover to appropriate professionals. The practice priorities and outcome areas identified in this review are intended to inform future pilot and implementation research rather than serve as validated practice guidelines.
Keywords: Sexual and Gender-Based Violence; Sexual Violence; Intimate Partner Violence; Domestic Violence; Artificial Intelligence; Early Response; Crisis Support; Conversational Agents; Chatbots; Triage; Digital Safety; Scoping Review.
