Women's refuge turns to smarter solutions to fight tracking technology

A women's refuge says technology built to make our lives easier is being used in an abusive way. (ABC Goldfields: Nicholas R Ward) Charities tackling domestic violence say they are dealing with an increasingly complex reality as technology enables new forms of abuse. Goldfields Women's Refuge now checks victims' cars as well as other digital devices for tracking tools. Advocacy groups hope that raising community awareness of tech-facilitated violence will lead to social and governmental change. Link copiedShareShare articleWest Australian school teacher Akita Princi realised something was wrong when she started seeing her ex-partner turn up to places she went. "I was actually afraid for my life and drove myself to the police station on a day where I had six or seven weird encounters with this person [ex-partner]," Ms Princi said. "The first thing that concerned me … was when this ex-partner would call me or speak to me and have more knowledge about my movements and what I had been doing." Akita Princi says her ex-partner tracked and harassed her for months. (Supplied: MJ Langley) It took Ms Princi six months to completely scrub her digital footprint by creating new accounts, getting new phones and having her car swept for tracking devices. "Even if you remove things and change your passwords every few months, if someone is quite skilled and if someone is that obsessed with you, unfortunately, they can try multiple different ways to track you or to get bits of information from you," she said. Ms Princi is one of an increasing number of women who are subjected to technology-facilitated abuse, a form of domestic violence in which perpetrators use day-to-day tech to track and control others. Goldfields Women's Refuge Finlayson House chief executive Suzie Williams said it was becoming more problematic for people in the Kalgoorlie region, 600 kilometres east of Perth. Suzie Williams believes people do not understand how common this type of abuse has become. (ABC Goldfields: Nicholas R Ward) Over the past 18 months, the refuge has revamped how it brings new people into the shelter, as surveillance technology has become cheaper and more accessible. "The technology that's built to make our lives easier, they [perpetrators] are using it in an abusive way. "You can buy a surveillance app that will actually copy all of your text and your phone calls." Ms Williams said the refuge's main concern was GPS location tracking and message monitoring. However, she said they had also seen cases of abusers using robot vacuum cleaners, cars, and even lighting to harass victims as smart appliances become more commonplace. Ms Williams said the problem got worse as abusers supported each other online. For women who are concerned they might be being tracked, Ms Williams said they should seek help as early as possible. "If you feel you're at risk, reach out to a specialist family domestic violence service so that we can assess your risk correctly," she said. Women's services are adapting their responses as abuse becomes more high-tech. (ABC Goldfields: Nicholas R Ward) While new technologies can feel overwhelming, Ms Williams stressed that the tools to fight this abuse were also improving. "We have a lot of strategies that I'm not going to talk about [for safety reasons] … where we use tech to facilitate a woman's safety," she said. Ms Williams said while technology was improving to help victims, she cautioned against using AI tools. "The one thing I would like survivors to know is not to rely on an AI to assess your safety because … [it tends] to get it incredibly wrong. "It's going to give you either a false sense of security or a false sense of risk." The Goldfields refuge now has special Faraday cages that block tracking. (ABC Goldfields: Nicholas R Ward) Ms Williams said she believed that while organisations such as hers could adapt successfully to keep women safe, society needed to do better to address these issues. Ms Princi said the mental scars from her experience would stay with her. She has since become an ambassador for the charity Safe Phone, which provides free donated mobiles for women in domestic violence situations. Getting a new phone could help save lives, Ms Princi said. "Those people who do receive it, it does make them safer and it makes them feel quite happy to know there are people out there that are supporting them." Copy linkFacebookX (formerly Twitter)PromotionFamily and domestic violence support:1800 Respect national helpline: 1800 737 732Women's Crisis Line: 1800 811 811Men's Referral Service: 1300 766 491Lifeline (24 hour crisis line): 131 114Relationships Australia: 1300 364 277NSW Domestic Violence Line:1800 656 463Qld DV Connect Womensline:1800 811 811Vic Safe Steps crisis response line:1800 015 188ACT 24/7 Crisis Line:(02) 6280 0900Tas Family Violence Counselling and Support Service:1800 608 122SA Domestic Violence Crisis Line:1800 800 098WA Women's Domestic Violence 24

Women's refuge turns to smarter solutions to fight tracking technology

Key takeaways

More in international