Technology-Facilitated Domestic Abuse: An under-Recognised Safeguarding Issue?

Abstract

Abstract Responding to domestic abuse is a key element of social work practice, in both child protection and adult safeguarding. This article sets out the ways in which rapid technological advances are being co-opted by perpetrators of domestic abuse to create new ways of exerting control. After starting with a brief reminder of recent UK legislative changes around domestic abuse, the article outlines the main ways in which technologies, including mobile phones and other Internet-enabled devices, are used by abusers for surveillance, monitoring, tracking and otherwise controlling all aspects of the lives of those they target. The article then moves on to consider how some groups may be at greater risk than others of technology-facilitated domestic abuse (TFDA), including women with insecure immigration status, women with learning disabilities and younger women and girls. Finally, the key social work tool for assessing risk in relation to domestic abuse is critiqued as lacking sufficient focus on TFDA. The article concludes by suggesting what individual social workers and local authorities need to do in order to better respond as TFDA continues to evolve.