Technology & Domestic Abuse Practitioners Network

Date: Monday 11th December, 14:00 – 16:30

Location: Microsoft Teams

Free training for anyone working in Nottingham City or County – chargeable outside these areas.

Do you work with survivors or perpetrators of domestic abuse? Do you need to know about technology and domestic abuse in your line of work?

Technology is evolving so fast that it is hard to keep up to date. Technology is driving new forms of domestic abuse with the countless ways it can facilitate a perpetrator’s coercive and controlling behaviours. This is a practice and tech-focused network event that will help you to build skills for supporting survivors or working with perpetrators of domestic abuse.

This session will be led by our three guest speakers:

Zoe Asser will summarise her PhD research on Image-Based Sexual Abuse (IBSA), providing insight from victim centres and victim-survivor campaigners on how they support survivors, and how practitioners can best provide support to survivors of IBSA in the context of intimate-partner violence. Zoe will also discuss recent changes to the law on IBSA and how this might impact the work of practitioners. She will also discuss how technology can be used to support survivors.

Zoe Asser is a 4th year PhD student at Queen Mary University London. Her research focuses on evaluating current measures within the UK and South Korea that help victims to delete their Image-Based Sexual Abuse imagery from online platforms. She has researched and presented a paper on the intersection between intimate-partner violence and image-based sexual abuse, which also discussed the possible legal remedies to support victims in deleting their images.

Kieron Ivy Turk will provide an overview of their research on Airtag and personal item tracker stalking, including home surveillance devices such as Ring doorbells, home speakers, and baby monitors.

Kieron/Ivy (either name, they/she) is a 3rd year PhD student at the University of Cambridge exploring the ways that technology is being used for domestic abuse and designing technical interventions for this. Their recent publications include studies on the anti-stalking features provided for personal item tracking devices such as the Apple Airtag, and research on improving the quick exit buttons provided on many support service websites. She is currently exploring ways to improve the design of IoT devices to prevent surveillance, including Ring doorbells, baby monitors, and smart speakers.

Katy Brookfield will provide insight on gift giving from perpetrators of domestic abuse, as well as the tampering of seasonal items as part of tech abuse.

Katy Brookfield is an ESRC funded postgraduate researcher at the University of Nottingham, in the School of Sociology and Social Policy. Her PhD looks at women’s experiences of technology-facilitated domestic abuse in the UK, and how being subjected to digital surveillance impacts on their interactions with support services.

The session will also include a short summary of the Online Safety Act 2023 and what this means for children and adults, as well as victim-survivors of domestic abuse.

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Please be aware that this session will contain reference to types of domestic abuse. It is recommended that the session is attended in a quiet and confidential space. If you are impacted by the content of the session, you will be provided with points of contact as part of your follow-on resources, and reference will be made to support options in the session.

Information on support is also available on Equation’s Website: Get Help | Equation

Cancellation

Please note failure to attend the course without prior cancellation may result in a charge for your place. If you do wish to cancel, you can do so through your Eventbrite confirmation or by getting in touch with our team at training@equation.org.uk.