New Resource: Legal System Toolkit on Understanding & Investigating Technology Misuse

NNEDV is pleased to announce the launch of our new Toolkit for Law Enforcement & Legal Professionals on Understanding & Investigating Technology Misuse. This toolkit was developed to meet the needs of law enforcement, attorneys, court personnel, community corrections, and other professionals to better serve survivors of technology-facilitated abuse. It provides thorough guides and resources on evidence collection for some of the most common technologies misused by abusers and perpetrators.

Agencies across the country have communicated barriers, such as a lack of funds, that often prevent them from sending staff to in-person trainings for multiple days. We have also heard requests for more comprehensive resources on issues of technology abuse and evidence. We hope this toolkit will provide professionals working within the criminal and civil legal systems with resources to help them respond to the emerging issues that survivors are identifying and struggling with and in doing so improve both safety planning and accountability.

Tech Abuse: Information from the Field

Survey Findings from the Conference on Crimes Against Women

 We are happy to announce the summary of our short survey Tech Abuse: Information from the Field: Survey Findings from the Conference on Crimes Against Women. This survey allowed the Safety Net team to gather information from the field to better guide the work that we do.

For more information on this survey and the findings check out Tech Abuse: Information from the Field: Survey Findings from the Conference on Crimes Against Women.

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This survey was conducted by the National Network to End Domestic Violence and funded under the Technology, Abuse, and Safety Project awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice (2016-TA-AX-K069)

Tech Summit 2018 Recap

HIGHLIGHTS FROM TECH SUMMIT 2018

The month of July is always jam-packed for the Safety Net team. This past July, we hosted the 6th Annual Technology Summit in San Francisco, California. This year saw more participants, more sessions, and more ways to connect than ever before. We welcomed over 300 staff, victim service providers, law enforcement, trainers, and technology partners to engage, connect, and learn more about the intersections of technology misuse and intimate partner violence.

Here are some of the highlights from this year’s spectacular summit!

1.   “Technology isn’t the problem, abuse is!”- Our very own Erica Olsen, Director of the Safety Net project, opened the week with foundational principles. She centered the training with reminding participants that we need to hold perpetrators accountable, while also allowing for survivors to choose what is the best option for them during their tech safety planning process.

2.   “Technology is often misused, but technology can also empower survivors” - Malika Saada Saar, Google - Our 2018 tech summit speakers and presenters left us feeling empowered and energized to continue this work. We had representatives from Uber, Facebook, Google, law enforcement, and many other phenomenal presenters who not only shared their knowledge and expertise, but their own stories and ways they  work to end gender-based violence. We couldn’t have done this without them.

3.   “Technology can be used to reach those at the margins and provide them with a safe space”- This year we had sessions that really spoke to the intersections in which many survivors live. We offered sessions on technology and accessibility, working with immigrant survivors, and the impact of technology on LGBTQ survivors. These sessions were an added bonus to our agenda and provided new and innovative approaches for advocates to do this work. Likewise, we held our 3rd annual Women in Technology reception where technologists and advocates came together to discuss emerging tech and the use of technology in communities of color.

4.    “Lots of work, but lots of fun”- #TechSummit18 wasn’t just all work, we were able to have fun with our participants. From live polling, tech themed coloring pages, our daily prize drawings, and of course karaoke and trivia, this year we engaged with participants in ways we haven’t in the past. We were able to enjoy each other and really provide connections that will foster new friendships and networking relationships.

We thank all of the participants, speakers, sponsors, and you for making Tech Summit 2018 a huge success. Until July 2019.