World Youth Skills Day- Understanding the impact of Technology Facilitated Abuse on Children and Young People

World Youth Skills Day takes place every year on the 15th July - celebrating the importance of equipping young people with the skills they need for employment, training, and entrepreneurship. The day provides plenty of opportunities for children and young people from education and training institutions, the private sector, policy makers, and development partners, highlighting the role of skills in shaping inclusive and sustainable societies.

The theme for this year's World Youth Skills Day is 'skills for a shared future', focusing on youth empowerment through using AI and developing digital skills. However, at Refuge, we know that these initiatives may not be easily accessible for children and young people who are living in refuges after having fled domestic abuse; especially if technology-facilitated abuse was involved.

We currently have 256 children and young people residing in our refuges, and often when there has been technology-facilitated abuse, there are also risks of:

• compromised devices,
• compromised online accounts such as emails,
• restrictive parental controls on devices set up by the perpetrator,
• devices that are linked to the perpetrator's own devices through family accounts,
• and other unknown devices in the home such as tools used for surveillance and monitoring.

As a result of this, families are often left with no choice but to abandon their devices and accounts when fleeing, and start again with new ones when they arrive at their temporary accommodation.

While the families are supported and provided with immediate physical safety, there are still severe impacts to the children and young people involved. Sometimes the tech assessment done by our team is the first time the family realises the extent of the technology-facilitated abuse they were experiencing. This can be very unsettling, especially for the children and young people who have to be told why their devices need to be left, or why their technology use and habits need to change while they are living in the temporary accommodation.

Additionally, the process of starting again with new devices can be very overwhelming to survivors, especially with the fast advances in digital technology that might be difficult for them to keep up with.

One of the difficult things about staying in temporary accommodation is that it is a temporary home. While it might seem obvious, it can be difficult when the family realises this, and it can cause lots of arising feelings. There are many situations that can become difficult when you are living in temporary accommodation, in regards to World Youth Skills Day, we are going to be discussing how education can be affected.

In the UK, there are approximately 34,700 children and young people who for various reasons are not in education.¹ This includes the children and young people who reside in our refuges, until they are able to get back into education.

When living in temporary accommodation, children and young people will have to enrol in new schools or colleges, and there can be barriers to this, such as:

• Needing to attend a specialist school or college due to additional learning needs or disabilities.
• Lack of local availability of specific types of schools the child may have previously attended, such as faith-based or single-gender schools.
• Delays with the school or college's intake process due to enrolment not taking part at the start or end of the school year.
• Differences in the provisions, support services, or extracurricular opportunities the child had at their previous school or college.
• Inability to continue the child's chosen GCSE or college courses due to lack of availability in their new local area.
• Lack of availability of schools or colleges with a similar Ofsted rating to the child's previous school or college.

At Refuge, we recognise the rippling effect experiencing domestic abuse can have on a family's life; and help support and empower survivors in reclaiming their lives. However there remains barriers which can prolong the impact of domestic abuse, and continue the family's experience of not feeling in control of their choices or surroundings after fleeing their previous home.

For World Youth Skills Day, it is important to consider the children and young people who are in temporary accommodation after fleeing domestic abuse. These children and young people may miss out on the opportunities provided by schools and colleges as part of this global initiative, creating an additional barrier for these children in developing the lifelong skills that would prepare them to enter the workplace, training, or further education.

For those families that have experienced technology-facilitated abuse specifically, it can create further barriers to accessing initiatives such as World Youth Skills Day. Survivors of technology-facilitated abuse may feel anxious or uncertain about engaging with technology in the same ways they did previously. This can lead to survivors wishing to withdraw their consent for their children to participate in technology-based initiatives such as this.

Children and young people's experiences are often overlooked during discussions surrounding the impacts of domestic abuse. However, the impacts are significant, a child's experiences of domestic abuse can stay with them for the rest of their lives. Raising awareness can help make sure children and young people's experiences continue to be included in these discussions, and that their experiences are considered when developing resources and services for survivors of domestic abuse.

One of the ways Refuge is supporting children and young people during the summer holidays is through our Summer Appeal. The children in our refuges deserve more than just safety - they deserve the freedom to laugh, play and just be a child again. By donating to our Summer Appeal, you could help provide fun days out for women and children living in our refuges, or help families access back-to-school essentials as children transition into a new school year.

Donate to our Summer Appeal

Training opportunities with Refuge

If you would like to learn more about how technology is being misused, we also deliver a range of CPD accredited and bespoke training courses designed to upskill professionals on the emerging risks of technology-facilitated and economic abuse.

Power and Control in the age of AI

Tuesday 18th August - 9:30-11:30am

Get your tickets

Digital Control in Clinical Spaces

Tuesday 1st September 2026 - 9:30-11:30am

Get your tickets)

Upcoming podcast episode

Refuge... In Conversation With, Experts on Migrant Experiences of Economic Abuse

Featuring Punita Chaubey from Sheffield Hallam University, Kaveri Qureshi from the University of Edinburgh, and Anna Barnett from Opoka, this episode will focus on migrant and minority ethnic women's experiences of economic abuse.

We will explore how immigration status, financial exclusion, and wider structural inequalities can increase vulnerability to abuse, and what needs to change to ensure survivors can access meaningful support.

You can follow our podcast on Spotify to keep up to date on new releases.

Get support

If you have been impacted by any of the issues discussed in this article, do know that support is available.

For domestic abuse support, please contact the National Domestic Abuse Helpline on a trusted device. The National Domestic Abuse Helpline can be accessed 24/7 and provides both practical and emotional support to individuals impacted by domestic abuse. The Helpline can be contacted on a freephone 0808 2000 247. Support is also available via British Sign Language – 10 AM to 6 PM Monday to Friday.

To find out more information about digital safety and how you can keep your information safe online, please access Refuge’s tech safety guides through our website on a trusted device. We also have a dedicated Home Tech Tool which is designed to support survivors to identify devices in their home which could be misused, with guidance on how to secure them safely.

References

¹ Children missing education | Explore education statistics service