I have leveraged technology, for over 5 years for many things: To launch online courses, and set up automated systems for coaching programs, books, and courses, among other things. Using digital media, I have been able to achieve important feats, using technology, and I know technology is powerful.
Of course, I have also been a victim of abuse, made possible through technology. I have received threatening messages from an ex, who leveraged digital media to cause me to experience great fear.
Indeed, there are many ways in which technology has been used to perpetuate abuse and cause survivors of domestic violence great harm.
However, I have been thinking about ways practitioners- especially domestic violence agencies can leverage technology for domestic violence.
The question is: Can we use technology for DV?
I will share my thoughts on this important question, based on my experiences, at two different domestic violence agencies.
Technology can expand the reach of DV agencies and their services.
At Apna Ghar, Inc. (Our Home), where I served as a supervised visitation and safe exchange advocate, I facilitated visits, which allowed children to spend time with their parents. This program primarily relies on in-person visitations, with a few visits, taking place online.
I thought closely about how important remote visits are, in strengthening families. I imagine that more DV agencies can leverage remote visits, as a way of consolidating in-person visits. The use of technology in this way can reduce the chances of visiting and custodial parents, ever meeting-which is a problem that advocates often have to grapple with during in-person visitations.
Also, remote visits can allow an increased number of people to enroll in supervised visitation programs, thereby increasing the reach and impact of agencies providing such services. In fact, this initiative will allow agencies to open themselves to providing services to people far away from where agencies are located.
Not only that, it allows more agencies to ensure retention of the workforce, expand their reach, and even attract talents located in other countries.
For instance, agencies struggle with finding staff with bi-lingual skills, with a remote work option, bi-lingual speakers can access employment opportunities at DV agencies. For instance, a Kenyan advocate with native speaker competence in Kiswahili can work easily with immigrant DV survivors or clients, who need such service. Think about it: how many proficient native language speakers are available to provide language support, with the constant rise of domestic violence cases, if agencies do not open themselves up to recruiting talents from other countries, by leveraging technology?
Of course, if work visa conditions become flexible, this is a great opportunity for agencies to strengthen their work.
Technology can reduce the risk of service-receiving survivors' exposure to re-traumatization.
I worked briefly at Family Rescue. This role is what I will consider an internship. It was an opportunity to understudy how domestic violence survivors in the Southside of Chicago access housing support.
Most of the clients who benefit from the program, which I understudied, were people of color. In this role, I had the opportunity to learn how domestic violence agencies receive information about people who are homeless, through a system called CES (coordinated entry system).
In this role, I observed some of the complications that impact DV survivors' ability to be completely free from their abusers.
For instance, survivors in the Ridgeland Apartments Program have access to subsidized housing, until they can transition to renting their own apartments or exiting the program.
However, many of these survivor-residents give their abusers access to these apartments. While the housing program provides a "home" for the beneficiaries, it does not provide the security or safety that ensures survivor-beneficiaries do not interact closely with their abusers.
When I reflect on the challenges that I observed in this role, I have identified some innovative ways to solve this problem: leveraging technology for financial empowerment. How does this model work?
In my role as Adult Advocate at the Ridgeland Apartment Program, I observed that many of the survivor-residents have to work, and so would have to take jobs outside of their residential area. Imagine if these survivor residents are trained to acquire tech skills, find remote jobs, or even attract clients remotely.
The risk of these survivors meeting their abusers, or the abusers finding their address is reduced significantly. The safety of survivors is an important phenomenon to think about, as we think about remote work, since the pandemic. ( Roy, 2021).
At ideyforyou, we provide such survivor-centered training opportunities, and also advocate that companies open up more remote positions that are DV survivors centered. Remote jobs can also help protect IP addresses.
Technology can ensure the retention of service seekers in agencies' programs.
Again, I think it is important to stress how complicated the lives of survivors can be. Importantly, how much fear and panic they live in, and it is important to make service delivery more flexible, to ensure retention of service seekers. I once had a conversation with a former client, at one of the agencies where I had previously served, who expressed her frustrations and why she had to exit the program, because she could not continue to commute to the agency.
She is a parent with four children, and also has to juggle school, a day time job and other responsibilities, which made remaining in the services they have enrolled in difficult.
As practitioners, researchers, service providers, and advocates, I think it is important to continue to rethink strategies for mitigating domestic violence.
Technology can serve as a tool for mitigating the traumatization of survivors of domestic violence.
At ideyforyou, as a digital life-coaching business, we leverage technology for meeting the needs of the individual clients, agencies, or organizations that we serve.
Visit our website to learn how you can work with us www.ideyforyou.com
Can we keep this conversation going?
What ideas do you have for leveraging technology for mitigating domestic violence?
What are you doing in your space?
Please share...