Advocates for victims of domestic violence say those abused need information, and fast.

If not, they could face additional violence.

Recently, Loyola University studied the effectiveness of Chicago’s domestic violence hotline. It’s often hard for victims to find legal help or temporary shelter in their area.

So in 1998, the city of Chicago created a help line that would be a one-stop shop for all domestic violence services.

Today, the city and Loyola University released a study on whether the hotline’s working.

Researcher Christine George says the help line’s gotten high marks from callers.

“I think all of us can reflect the frustration of trying to call some place, and six months ago, it went out of business or it changed its phone number,” George says. “Well, think of that when you’re in crisis and think of the ability to suddenly get something that you know is going to work. You know it’s there, it’s updated.”

Despite the help line’s overall success, researchers and victims advocates say there’s room for improvement.

For example, the city needs to beef up advertising in the city’s Asian and ethnic white communities.

Currently, Chicago’s domestic violence hotline fields 20,000 calls each month.