Culture Today: Ensure technology safety against domestic violence
A general stereotype associated with domestic violence is that it involves only physical violence. Or at least, the first thing that comes to most people’s mind with the mention of domestic violence is a battered wife beaten up by her husband. However, we’ve previously written about how the effects of domestic violence go far beyond just physical violence.
But that’s not all! The National Domestic Violence Hotline in this article on it’s website talks about how the internet is now being used by abusers to committ violence on women. The internet is the fastest growing tool of communication today. People have their whole lives laid out on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and such other websites today making an individual vulnerabel to hacking and invasion of privacy.
As the article puts it, "Technological advances have great benefits but there are also drawbacks and caution must be used, especially when communicating online. People often don’t realize that the information they post online may reveal more about themselves than they intend."
The article has received an overwhelming response and has started off a very interesting dicussion by women about their views on the importance of technological safety in coping with domestic violence.
Pamela relates her personal experience-"I suffered at the hands of a master manipulator. His monitoring of my every communicaton caused such misery I chose not to access cell phone or internet. We know isolation is part of the plan. In an active abusive relationship, we generally don’t even have access to research what remedies or services are out there to help us. I didn’t even know about the National Hotline. I believed him when he told me local police were in his pocket, and I didn’t know who or how to tell!"
That’s when technological safety comes in. It’s best not to trust anyone with your passwords, accounts-be it financial or other ones. You never know when things might take a bad turn in the relationship.
So how exactly can you prevent yourself from being tracked by your abuser online? An expert on the matter says, "The most important thing to remember is to use a safe computer, one that the abuser has absolutely no access to. You can use a computer at the public library, at a friend’s place, a local internet cafe, etc. The reason for this is that everything you do on a computer can be tracked."
A very valuable tip that the website lists, among others is-"When making or receiving private calls or arranging escape plans, try not to use a shared or family cell phone because cell phone bill records and phone logs might reveal your plans to an abuser."
There’s plenty of other information and tips avaialable on the NDVH website itself. No matter how used and abused this sounds, you are better safe than sorry. So whethere you are a domestic violence victim or not, taking precautions never harmed anyone.
Pic Courtesy: http://www.saferdates.co.uk/CyberStalkingAndHarassment.html
Tagged domestic violence
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