Most abusers use technology to spy on and harass their partners and former partners. Because technology is changing constantly, supporting women to do tech safety planning may feel overwhelming.
Guiding principles
- Women have the right to use technology. In fact, for many, technology allows them to stay connected to their support networks, offers safety tools and legal information and may be essential to their work.
- Prioritize what is most important to the woman. This will point to next steps. She may be willing to avoid social media for a few months, but can’t do without having a phone. The next step will be to ensure she has a phone the abuser has not accessed.
- Change passwords. When a woman leaves a relationship in which she has been subjected to abuse, she should immediately change the passwords to all her accounts.
- Use privacy settings. Tech abuse is so common that privacy settings are usually easy to find in most social media and on phones and other devices.
- Changes in online behaviour by the woman will alert the abuser, who may then escalate the abuse. If the woman finds spyware on her phone, she should seek support and update her safety plan before trying to remove the spyware or replace the phone.
- Replace devices if possible because the abuser may have tampered with them or installed spyware.
- Keep evidence of abuse. While the woman may want to delete abusive messages from the abuser, these can be used for evidence. Your job will be to know how the RCMP/POLICE and the courts want this evidence presented.
- Look online for tools and tips.
- Find a local tech expert. This is a person who is comfortable with technology and can provide guidance to you and, if suitable, the women you work with. Some phone companies will provide this support to customers
For more information, see our Tech safety toolkit, available on LukesPlace.ca.