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May 14, 2008

Safety Net: the National Safe & Strategic Technology Project

Technology helps victims and their children successfully flee violent batterers, stalkers and rapists. Survivors map roads to new lives on the web by reaching out to shelters and hotlines, researching restraining orders and address confidentiality programs, and finding housing, employment opportunities, new schools and online support. But what millions don't realize is the dangerous and potentially lethal sides of various technologies in the hands of abusers and perpetrators.

The Safety Net Project:

Works with communities and agencies to address how ongoing and emerging technology issues impact the safety, privacy and accessibility rights of victims of domestic violence, sexual violence and stalking.
Educates victims, their advocates and the general public on ways to use technology strategically to help find safety and escape domestic violence, dating violence, sexual violence, stalking and abuse.
Trains law enforcement and justice systems, social services, coordinated community response teams and others how to hold perpetrators accountable for misusing technology.
Advocates for strong local, state, national and international policies that ensure the safety, privacy and civil rights of all victims and survivors. This includes working with agencies, systems, governments, technologists, and technology industry leaders to:
- Help courts to keep survivors' addresses and photos off the Internet,
- Increase the security of databases that house vital and confidential information about victims,
- Improve the safety and privacy protections in agency policies and practices as well as in technology products,
- Ensure perpetrators are held fully accountable for misusing technology to stalk and abuse.

The Safety Net Project provides engaging and interactive trainings, resources and policy assistance in ways that both tech-savvy and non-techie audiences can understand.

Since 2002, we've also recruited, trained, and support a hand-picked network of technology safety trainers at U.S. state and territorial coalitions against domestic and sexual violence and other key national and international allied anti-violence organizations. As a result, every region in the U.S. and several regions in other areas (Canada, Europe) have one or more trained Safety Net technology safety advocates available to help them quickly evaluate how technology is impacting survivors in their community.

All this work is made possible due to the Safety Net Project's generous funders - AOL, Mary Kay Foundation, U.S. Department of Justice, Verizon Foundation, Verizon Wireless and The Wireless Foundation. These funders have enabled the Safety Net Project to:

Train more than 50,000 advocates, police, prosecutors and others across the U.S. and internationally;
Develop critically needed educational materials for victims and advocates;
Lead and participate in regional, national and international advocacy and policy initiatives;
Respond to regular media requests around the issues of technology use and victim safety; and
Develop strong partnerships with allied organizations, companies, and government agencies.

For more safety information, please read and use Safety Net's handouts and publications and Internet Safety tips, as well as Safety Net's collection of Technology, Confidentiality & Relocation Resources for U.S. DOJ OVW Grantees.