Digital Tips for Domestic Violence Survivors

Technology was conceived to make life simpler, but it has additionally opened new roads to domestic violence. Abusers use innovation to frighten, pester, or scare their unfortunate casualties even after they have moved out of the relationship. Innovations like telephones, PCs, tablets, and social media are utilized for stalking by a controlling accomplice. A model is this mother who endured consistent stalking, insulting, and badgering from an ex who had taken over her accounts. Or, on the other hand, this spouse who fixed a GPS tracker in his fiancée’s full doll to find her without her insight.

There are numerous cases in which innovation is utilized to build up a feeling of ubiquity for the abuser, and to rebuff, separate, and embarrass the person in question. Abusers even go the extent of posting sexualized content online to harass the person in question.

Although technology has been used to execute domestic violence by the abusers, it can also be used to protect domestic violence survivors from further abuse and stalking. Read on to find out some of the digital tips for domestic violence survivors.

Reset Your Phone

It’s basic for abusers to introduce surveillance applications or spyware onto your smartphone to monitor you. The abuser can track your whereabouts consistently and screen your web movement as long as you carry and use your phone. Evacuate any applications that might screen your activities by resetting your phone back to factory settings. From that point forward, set up a password to guarantee that nobody can tamper with your gadget without your assent.

Secure Smart Home Technologies

Most smart home devices are controlled by the Internet of Things (IoT) and can likewise be utilized by your abuser to monitor you remotely. Ensure that no one else accesses smart home devices that you may have introduced in your home. Likewise, have an expert scan your home and your vehicle for bugs and GPS trackers.

Secure Your Personal Data

In many cases, abusers can take away valuable documents like driver’s permit, medicinal records, immigration papers, birth declarations, and so forth from their culprits. This is a strategy to keep up control with respect to the abuser. Assume back responsibility for your life by storing your sensitive information and records past their span. For example, you can scan extremely significant records and transfer them to the cloud. Ensure your records are secret-key secured. Regardless of whether somebody takes the printed copies, you will most likely proceed onward with your life by utilizing the scanned duplicates.

Secure Your Online Presence

You also need to secure your online accounts, including social media accounts and email records to prevent interruption. Utilize two-factor authentication to secure your social media and email accounts. Abusers ordinarily utilize these online platforms to stalk their victims. Most social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram can give away your geographical location to a stalker. To maintain a strategic distance from that, don’t tag your location in your posts. You may likewise need to consider deactivating location trackers in all your applications unless you have to for special reasons.

Check for GPS Trackers in Your Car

If you are not an expert of motor vehicles, it may be hard to recognize any physical adjustments or connections to your car. Contract a specialist (an electrician, for instance) to clear for bugs and GPS trackers in your vehicle.

Encode Your Communications

Wherever applicable, use coded communication channels when contacting your loved ones. Numerous online networking applications, for instance, Viber, Telegram, and WhatsApp have encryption functionalities that make it hard for stalkers and abusers even if they manage to access your cell phone.

Final Words

Always use these tips to leverage technology to enhance security, protection, and freedom. Continually secure your gadgets, ensure that your phone, PC, vehicle, and other IoT-enabled devices can be trusted, back up your data, and develop a secure correspondence with your friends and family. Besides, endeavor to manage your financial accounts for extra affirmation and security.