March 3, 2005 | Read Time: 2 minutes
The same technology that can help a woman in a violent relationship seek help — such as cell phones, e-mail, and the Internet — can also be misused by abusers and aid their attempts to harass and terrorize their victims.
To help decrease the harm women suffer from such harassment, the Wireless Foundation, in Washington, has given $500,000 to the National Network to End Domestic Violence Fund, also in Washington.
The charity will use the money to expand its Safety Net training program, which teaches people who work with victims of domestic violence how to help their clients navigate the complexities that technology poses.
Many victims of abuse, particularly women, feel a strong sense of isolation — often imposed by their abusers — and communications technology can be important tools for them in contacting friends and family members, says Cindy Southworth, director of the Safety Net program. But she says that using a home computer that an abuser can monitor or a wireless phone whose billing records an abuser may see can be dangerous, especially when used to devise an escape plan.
“It’s not safe to look for bus tickets, jobs, apartments from a home computer if you’re living with a batterer,” says Ms. Southworth.
As part of the training sessions, Ms. Southworth demonstrates how spyware — software installed on someone’s computer to secretly track the user’s online activity — works, how easy it is to use, and how difficult it can be to detect on a computer.
Because of the growing availability and use of spyware, Ms. Southworth recommends that women seeking help from domestic-violence organizations use a computer at a local library or at a cyber cafe to look up sensitive information.
The Safety Net program also provides training to help police officers and prosecutors identify when abusers have used technology to commit a crime, how to gather the evidence, and how to prosecute the cases. Abusers have used global-positioning systems to trace their victims’ movements, hidden cameras to monitor their victims, and e-mail to send harassing messages.
Once law-enforcement officials understand the types of technology perpetrators can misuse, and feel comfortable gathering evidence, such crimes can be easy to prosecute, says Ms. Southworth. “There’s always a digital trail,” she says, “and that evidence is extremely compelling.”
For more information: Go to http://www.nnedv.org.
