#grlclbDAAM day 8 - digital abuse

October 8, 2018

digital abuse is an emerging trend within society - our increased access to the internet, while useful and amazing and freeing, can also give abusers a new way to exert control over their victims. it is something that we might fail to recognise as an abusive behaviour as our relationship with social media & the internet continues to change and adapt, it can be hard to know where to draw the line at intrusive and controlling behaviours by a partner. this is, essentially, uncharted territory for many people suffering abuse.

behaviours involved in digital abuse include:

threatening or abusing you via messages on your phone, email, social media accounts etc
using their phone/other tech to keep track of you, your movements, your activities
using their phone/other tech to keep track of who is speaking to you, messaging you, or contacting you
keeping track of your activity on social media
controlling what you can/can’t post on social media
controlling who you can be friends with on social media
demanding that you send explicit pictures to them, or sending them to you without your consent
refusing to let you be separated from your phone - making you feel guilty for taking too long to reply, phoning/messaging you constantly, losing their temper when you don’t reply immediately etc
forcing you to allow them to read all your messages/emails, or go through all your pictures
forcing you to give them your passwords to online accounts

this is an abuse experience that will continue to change with the times, and can therefore be hard to recognise, let alone stop. if you need help, you can phone women’s aid 24/7 on 0808 2000 247, or scottish women’s aid on 0800 027 1234.

xoxoxoxoxoxox

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