Domestic violence and information communication technologies

Physical violence against women is pervasive through out the world and domestic violence has been a longstanding issue in feminist activism and research. Yet, these experiences are often not represented in technological research or design. In the move to consider HCI at the margins, in this paper, we ask: how have ICTs affected the experiences of domestic violence survivors? We interviewed female survivors living in a domestic violence shelter about their experiences with technology. Participants reported that they were harassed with mobile phones, experienced additional harassment (but also support) via social networking sites, and tried to resist using their knowledge of security and privacy.

► ICTs change the way that abusers impact domestic violence survivors long after the act of leaving.
► Survivors of domestic violence must contend with a tradeoff of benefits vs. harm and the lack of privacy controls often results in a chilling effect.
► The experiences of domestic violence survivors illustrates that technological design often embeds and reflect a harmonious family view.