Building confidence and control: Media literacy and victims/survivors of domestic abuse

Ofcom and Refuge invite professionals working directly with victims/survivors of domestic abuse to take part in a fully funded programme designed to improve media literacy and strengthen support for survivors navigating technology-related risks.

A growing number of survivors experience technology-related abuse, including being monitored, having their devices accessed without permission, or losing control over their online accounts.

At the same time, digital services are vital for people leaving situations of domestic abuse, providing access to support, connection, and the means to rebuild their lives. Refuge have been commissioned to develop practical guidance and a training program to support agencies helping survivors fleeing domestic abuse build media literacy skills.

This has been developed to equip professionals with the tools to:

• Identify and respond to common forms of technology-facilitated abuse,

• Support victims/survivors to improve their media literacy skills to navigate online spaces safely,

• Apply practical strategies grounded in real-world scenarios faced by survivors.

Details

There are three available sessions, covering:

1. Digital safety and privacy

2. Navigating digital services safely and identifying reliable online information

3. Recognising and responding to Technology Facilitated Abuse

All training sessions are underpinned by a commitment to supporting survivor autonomy and building digital confidence; the associated guidance also contains a specific section on supporting survivor autonomy.

Each session is 1.5 hours long and is delivered online. There is no requirement to book all three sessions: we can tailor against what you identify the team would benefit from.

There will also be several “mop up” sessions through the year that your staff can be invited to if they miss a particular session – these will be open to other organisations, too.

The sessions are delivered online to your team at a time that suits you, agreed with our training lead Aamina (Aamina_Qureshi@refuge.org.uk)