By Will Pafford, Staff Writer

Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to the National Domestic Violence Hotline in West Lake Hills left the staff of the center amazed by his warmness and sincere interest in helping victims of abuse. 

Katie Ray-Jones, operations director for the hotline, took Biden on a tour of the center, along with Austin Mayor Will Wynn and domestic abuse survivor Courtney Sanchez, who is now an advocate for abused women. 

Jones said the first room Biden toured was the call center of the National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline, where he was interested in speaking with the youth advocates who work there. 

“He was very personable and warm,” she said. 

He then toured another room for the hotline of the NDVH, talking with each advocate individually and asking questions. 

“They were on a high the rest of the day, even the rest of this week,” Ray-Jones said. 

Biden was interested in how the call center connects abuse victims to local resources during the tour, she said.

Biden also had a private meeting with members of the Texas Council on Family Violence at the hotline, excluding media and others, to discuss the current issues of domestic violence facing the country. 

Those members said the interaction felt like a town-hall meeting, Jones said.

He also signed a banner commemorating the hotline’s 2 millionth call, which the NDVH received Sept. 30, with some kind words, Ray-Jones said. 

“We were really in awe of him,” she said. 

He then gave a press conference announcing that the United States Department of Justice was giving $700,000 to the teen help line. 

Biden has been a partner of the NDVH since its creation in 1996, after Biden authored the Violence Against Women Act in 1994, allowing for the creation of the call center. 

He also campaigned to raise funding to improve the hotline’s technology so the NDVH could find local resources for abuse victims more quickly and also connect callers directly to those resources. 

“He really was a key driver in that campaign,” Ray-Jones said. 

His first visit to the call center was in 2006 to commemorate its 10-year anniversary. 

Jones said thhat during this second visit, Biden remembered almost everyone he met three years ago. 

“His passion and commitment to working on this issue of domestic violence was clear to everyone who was working here that day,” she said. “It was amazing.”  

The NDVH can be reached at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or 1-800-787-3224. 

 

What is the National    

Domestic Violence Hotline?

The National Domestic Violence Hotline in West Lake Hills is a 24-hour, 365-days-per-year call-in center that provides victims of domestic abuse advice, education and paths to local resources to end abuse. 

It was created in 1996 after the U.S. Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act in 1994, and the National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline was added in 2007, said Katie Ray-Jones, operations director for the hotline. 

“We are a resource to anyone who might need information or resources,” she said. 

Jones said the first goal of the hotline is to be a listener for victims. 

Advocates then attempt to instill hope and empowerment to victims, as well as connect them to local resources for help. 

The hotline has the ability to patch callers directly to these local resources, Ray-Jones said. 

The hotline receives about 21,000 calls per month, and nearly 90 percent of them are from first-time callers to the center. 

“So we’re busy,” Ray-Jones said. 

The hotline has translators for 170 languages, and calls can last anywhere between 20 minutes and several hours depending on the situation. 

All conversations are confidential, and callers do not have to give any information about who they are or where they live, Ray-Jones said. 

The hotline is structured this way to reduce any barriers that would prevent victims of abuse from calling the center. 

Many times victims will not call because of threats from the abusers or confusion about their situation. 

“There is a lot of intensity around the issue and fear,” Ray-Jones said. 

Sometimes callers do not even know they are the victims of abuse. 

Although physical abuse is more obvious, Ray-Jones said people should look for signs of emotional abuse, such as a partner isolating, intimidating or trying to control the victim. 

Advocates at the hotline help callers identify patterns in the relationship that could be abuse. 

“Every relationship is very different,” Ray-Jones said.  

The call center also helps younger people in dating relationships with the National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline.

Ray-Jones said they developed the NTDAH after workers saw a trend in teens struggling with abusive relationships. 

The advocates who receive calls for the NTDAH are teenagers or young adults, so they can relate to the victims more easily. 

The NTDAH also has an option for online chatting, which many teenagers find easier than calling into the help line, Ray-Jones said. 

The greatest ability of the hotline is directly connecting victims of abuse to local resources over the phone, she said. 

The NDVH can be reached at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or 1-800-787-3224.