Screening and Inclusion

The submission form population includes US residents who are domestic abuse survivors. The inclusion criteria for this story submission form requires that participants are at least 18 years old. The exclusion criteria is that the submission form is only available in English, so unfortunately people who are not fluent in English will be excluded. People under eighteen will be excluded. 

Screening Procedures

Participants may complete the submission form at any time to reduce any scheduling conflicts. The submission form will be easy to follow as it will have simple phrasing and language. Submission form responses may be anonymously recorded at the participant’s request. The submission form includes a story that might require a long answer. We expect this submission form to take between 15 and 60 minutes.

Potential Risks and Discomforts

This submission form has an extremely low likelihood of causing physical harm to participants as they will be completing the submission form online at their own discretion. If someone has a history of arthritis, neck or back pain, or light sensitivity/vision problems, they may experience minimal physical harm from completing this submission form. 

This submission form has the potential to cause some minimal psychological harm to the participants. The submission form asks about sensitive topics. Recalling violent experiences may be upsetting or distressing. If the submission form participants are taking time away from their family or friends to complete this submission form they may experience minimal harm. The study is completely online and participants can take it at their convenience and discretion. We encourage participants to take care of themselves and reach out with questions early and as necessary.

To support participants who might be experiencing distress due to the submission form, a consent form will be included. 

Potential Benefits

This submission form is not designed to directly benefit the participants or population. The results and discussions that follow may lead to policy change in the future. Study participants may experience minimal benefits from sharing their stories.

Cost and Compensation

The cost to the participant will include up to 60 minutes of their time. There will not be any compensation offered for submission form participants.

Future Use of Data

Responses to this submission form may be used to advocate for policy change in the future, as well as for social media and marketing purposes. Your consent will be obtained before using your story. If we share your story on social media or for marketing you can elect to remain anonymous. 

Confidentiality

All participants will be assigned random identification numbers, if they wish to remain anonymous. Submission Form responses will be encrypted and password-protected to ensure your privacy. Your information will only be accessible by the primary investigator. All identifying information will be kept 100% confidential and/or anonymized unless given express consent to share (for the purposes of social media, case studies, victim impact statements, and in appealing to lawmakers).

Participation and Withdrawal

This submission form is completely voluntary. Participants may refuse to answer or skip any questions. They may also withdraw from the submission form at any time by contacting ‪(617) 858-0133‬.