- Guest Blogger
Shifting the role of technology in gender-based violence
Technology is deeply woven into the fabric of our lives, even more after this past year. Through our phones, computers, and other devices we can gain access to school, work, and social connections. Our new, always-on, connected life has a downside, especially when the same tools we need in day-to-day life are used against us by the people who are closest to us. Abusive partners, ex’s, and even people we may never have met in real life can use phones, social media, and information on the internet to try to control, threaten, and harm us.
During the pandemic, as lockdowns and social distancing were put in place to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, survivors of domestic violence found themselves trapped with their abusers. In addition, many were under constant surveillance from their own phones and the increasing number of internet-connected devices in our homes. This technology has enabled abusers to remotely, constantly, and easily access cameras, microphones, speakers, location information, and more. Abusers use this access to spy on survivors, or even to harass and threaten them by barking commands through smartspeakers, locking or unlocking doors, and activating alarms. This technology can also be used to gaslight survivors by adjusting lighting, thermostats, and other environmental controls, then denying having done so and telling the survivor they “must be imagining it.”
We’ve seen technology evolve rapidly, along with the ways that abusive people misuse it to harm others.
Can we change this picture? Can we minimize the misuse of technology and give survivors greater access to safety, empowerment, and healing? These questions led me to the new Public Interest Technology program at ASU’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society where I am continuing to work at the nexus of technology and domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking as I’ve been doing since 2003. As a graduate student at ASU I am looking at how technology shapes society, and asking how society can shape technology in turn, and with greater intention.
The story of technology in the pandemic has a positive side, too. Advocates who work with survivors were able to connect with survivors by video, web chat, and text when we couldn’t support them in person. Refuge, the largest provider of domestic abuse services in the UK, added web chat and video-based sign language services to the National Domestic Abuse Helpline, and launched a new website focused on tech abuse. Many survivors staying in shelters could more easily and safely connect their kids to school through remote learning. Also, a more global network is being forged as so many of our meetings and conferences have gone online, catalyzing connections between advocates and activists working to make technology safer for survivors, and for everyone.
It is true that technology can be used to help or to harm, but it is not neutral. It amplifies harm, accelerates inequality, and changes almost too fast for us to keep up in our efforts to counter tech abuse. It also promises tremendous benefits, though those are unevenly distributed, to paraphrase Sci-Fi author William Gibson. The challenge is to shape technology for safety, for equity, and for the good of people and the planet as we move towards futures where everyone can be safe and connected.
Toby Shulruff (she/her) is a graduate student at ASU, and a Senior Technology Safety Specialist at the Safety Net Project of the National Network to End Domestic Violence.
Find her on Twitter @tobysworks
Photo credit: WocintechChat
