Every day, women are targeted, monitored, harassed, intimidated, stalked, and threatened by offenders misusing technology. In a 2014 survey of victim services providers by the National Network to End Domestic Violence, 97 percent of providers indicated that the victims they served were experiencing technology abuse.

The most important thing we can do for survivors of technology abuse, however, whether it is at the hands of an intimate partner or a stranger, is to trust and believe them.

The perpetrators – intimate partners, colleagues, acquaintances, and often even complete strangers – text and email harassing or threatening messages, use spyware to monitor computer and email accounts, spoof phone numbers to leave threatening voicemails, launch social media harassment campaigns, post compromising photos or videos online, hack online accounts, use tracking devices to monitor their victims’ movements, and more.

Read the full article on technology-based violence against women by Caitlin Lowry at YWCA