Learn the Red Flags of Technology Facilitated Abuse

The #RedFlagsAreAbuse billboard campaign which runs from September 25th to October 8th, 2022, is designed to create awareness of noxious digital behaviour which are red flags for technology-facilitated abuse. The campaign focuses on three problematic red-flag behaviours:

Incessant contact: More commonly known as ‘blowing up your phone’ to keep tabs on you with an expectation of immediate or prompt reply.

Location-sharing: Constant demands to share your location or remote tracking of your movements.

Financial Abuse: Restricting your access to online money or making you unduly accountable for essential purchases.

Technologies and platforms that make our lives easier are increasingly being used by more and more people every day. Perpetrators of abuse have quickly learned to adopt these technologies to exert coercion and control over their partners which may be done directly and/or through their children.

The novel nature of technology means that norms around use are not yet culturally established and abusive behaviour may not be easily recognised or may be seen as acceptable. Technology-assisted abuse follows the norms of other forms of abuse and victims are often disbelieved or dismissed, or behaviour is often falsely blamed on poor personal choice. Click here for videos and tutorials on how to increase your safety online.

What is Technology-facilitated abuse?

Technology-facilitated abuse is the use of technology to control, threaten, monitor or harass someone. Some examples of this type of abuse includes:

Using technology to track your whereabouts
Using tracking devices to monitor your locations and activities
Sending excessive amounts of voice calls, emails and texts
Denying access to technology to isolate you
Sending abusive messages online to threaten you and/or your family/friends
Sharing intimate and private pictures or messages online
Harassing you by sending insulting or threatening texts or messages
Making fake profiles to harass you
Monitoring all your online activity
Checking your search history
Demanding you give them your passwords to your online accounts
Restricting access to your finances using technology
Accessing your personal accounts without your knowledge or consent

What is financial abuse?

Controlling all household money and asking you to account for money spent, including showing receipts
Denying you access to your bank account or shared bank accounts
Sabotaging your work or preventing you from attending work (example: hiding your car keys)
Withholding money for food, household or personal items
Not paying bills, rent or the mortgage and allowing arrears to build up
Not paying child maintenance as agreed or at all
Running up bills in your name or taking out loans in your name (creation of debt)
Maxing out your line of credit

Register your interest below to participate in FREE cyber-security training and learn how to increase your online safety.

Name(Required)

First Last

Email(Required)

Profession

Age

Gender

Female

Male

Other

The National Cyber Security Awareness Task Force in partnership with Safe Ireland are committed to closing the knowledge and safety gap between the cyber security industry in Ireland and organisations that support adult and child survivors of domestic abuse and coercive control.

Learn the Red Flags of Technology Facilitated Abuse

Register your interest below to participate in FREE cyber-security training and learn how to increase your online safety.

Main Funders: