Fifty years on from setting up the first women’s shelter, Refuge this month released an advert in a campaign showing how modern technology can be used by domestic abuse perpetrators.
Starting out as a TV and social media video for the ‘all-new 5G smartphone’, the narrator goes on to say “manipulating her has never been easier” thanks to the maps in real time app.
The phone is also “compatible with home appliances allowing easy and quick control of the heating and lights even when you’re not at home. So you can control her from wherever you are.”
The advert ends with the written tagline: “Domestic abuse is getting smarter. Our job is getting bigger.”
Refuge’s CEO Ruth Davison said: “Fifty years on from opening the world’s first refuge there is sadly little to be celebrating. The numbers of women experiencing domestic abuse, especially in the arena of tech abuse, is rising – not decreasing.”
Last month Refuge and internet security company Avast released a list of the ten internet-connected (IoT) devices most used by perpetrators against their victims.
