In the wake of hosting its first Technology Safety Summit, the domestic abuse charity Refuge is calling on the government to make tackling technology-facilitated abuse a key part of its plan to halve VAWG (violence against women and girls).
To meet rising demand, Refuge set up a specialist technology-facilitated abuse and economic empowerment service in 2017, the only one of its kind in England. Since then, cases have grown both in quantity and complexity with Refuge reporting a 207% increase in referrals to the tech team compared to its first year of service. New analysis shows the specialist team saw a 92% increase in referrals in the first six months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2019.
The two-day inaugural tech safety conference brought together experts from Refuge and stakeholders across sectors to highlight survivor experiences, policy concerns, and avenues for reform, with speakers including Elena Michael, director of #NotYourPorn, Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner, Baroness Nicky Morgan, previous Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Maria Cearns, Chief Operating Officer for The Co-operative, and Dame Melanie Dawes, CEO of Ofcom, as well as Refuge ambassador and campaigner Sharon Gaffka.
The summit explored some of the many ways in which technology can be weaponised by perpetrators, from stalkerware, harassment and financial sabotage to the sharing of intimate images and deepfakes. Research in our 2021 Unsocial Spaces Report shows that one in three UK women (36%) have experienced online abuse and one in six of these women experienced this abuse from a partner or ex-partner. This is equivalent to almost 2 million women in the UK.
Emma Pickering, Head of Technology-Facilitated Abuse and Economic Empowerment at Refuge said:
“While we welcome the government’s ambition to halve VAWG, it is essential that this includes a commitment to tackling technology-facilitated domestic abuse, both from the government and financial institutions and big tech. Most survivors we support now have experienced some form of technology facilitated abuse and what has changed over recent years is the ease with which abusers are able to stalk, monitor and harm women and children by using technology – making many cases of abuse increasingly complex. Refuge saw a rise of 258% in survivor cases involving technology between 2018 and 2022, yet we know this statistic represents just the tip of the iceberg.
We look forward to continuing to work with the government to ensure the Online Safety Act is robustly implemented and that social media platforms adopt the forthcoming VAWG guidance from Ofcom, but there is much more to be done. Survivors who report tech-facilitated abuse to police don’t always receive informed support, and it is essential that frontline responders undergo mandatory training on investigating this kind of abuse. While we are proud to lead the sector with our dedicated team, for us to continue this life-saving work there must be increased funding for specialist online VAWG services as a matter of urgency.”
Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner, said:
“As technology evolves, so does a perpetrator’s abilities to weaponize it. Its daily use in our homes, cars, workplaces and online means that more and more survivors are being subject to technology-facilitated domestic abuse. That’s why our understanding and response to the complex challenges of this kind of abuse must evolve too.
“We are best placed to respond through strong collaboration with tech companies, Ofcom, government and domestic abuse services. I welcome Refuge’s leadership and the expertise they have developed to promote an effective technology-facilitated domestic abuse response, keeping survivor voice and partnership working at the centre.”
Jasminder*, a survivor of domestic abuse, said:
“The Refuge UK Tech Safety Summit was pivotal to highlighting technology and economic abuse. Technology can readily be used as a weapon by perpetrators and yet, it can also be used to help others in abusive situations. The summit was a great interactive forum to educate corporates and governing bodies on the dangers and how advanced technology can be used to prevent abuse or bring this to the fore.
My children and I have experienced, and still on occasion experience various forms of technology and economic abuse, predominantly through banking, mobile phone, emails, WhatsApp, filming and photography.”
Ariah*, a survivor of domestic abuse, said:
“When I stopped answering his calls, he would call even more. I was scared to pick my phone up as I knew there would be a lot of angry messages and calls. It wasn’t uncommon to pick up my phone to 50 or 60 messages saying ‘call me’ or ‘answer me’ back-to-back. I would also get lots of calls in quick succession, the most was 26 in the space of 15 minutes. Then I would start getting calls from withheld numbers. Sometimes this would start at 5am or 6am and go on right up to midnight. When I stopped replying I started getting harassing messages from his parents – first text messages, then emails, and then messages to my mum. I reported this to the police and it finally stopped.”