Mental Health Awareness Week - Understanding the Impact of Technology-Facilitated Abuse

Mental Health Awareness Week takes place this year from 11th–17th May and encourages us to reflect on and recognise the significant impact domestic abuse can have on emotional wellbeing. At Refuge, we know that for many survivors, mental health challenges are not the cause of domestic abuse, but a persistent and damaging consequence.

Technology-facilitated abuse is increasingly used to monitor, threaten, intimidate and control survivors, making it difficult to feel safe using technology or to shift feelings of being constantly monitored. This abuse is difficult to detect, difficult to evidence and often misunderstood, yet its psychological impact can continue long after a relationship has ended. Raising awareness of technology-facilitated abuse helps us to better support survivors, encourage safe discussions and promote access to support and resources.

At Refuge we recognise that technology-facilitated abuse not only impacts survivors’ physical safety but also on their mental health and wellbeing. Many experience impacts on their mental health because of domestic abuse and often describe living in fear of technology and in a constant state of hypervigilance. Technology‑facilitated abuse often amplifies fear because it feels constant and inescapable. The sense that an abuser is “always there” — controlling, monitoring and/or tracking—can have a profound impact every single day. UK service‑based research from Changing lives (2025) found 44% of survivors reported the use of tracking or monitoring technologies — behaviours strongly linked to hypervigilance, stress and trauma symptoms.¹. The research also found that 75% of survivors experienced persistent digital contact, a key driver of anxiety, fear and ongoing psychological distress.

Referrals to our Technology-Facilitated Abuse and Economic Empowerment Team rose by 62% in 2025 compared to 2024, with the final three months of the year the highest on record for a quarter, then in 2025 to 2026 a further 78% increase, reflecting the increasing complexity of technology-facilitated abuse cases presenting to frontline services. 

Survivors’ experiences of technology-facilitated abuse can make safe places feel unsafe:

• Home environments using ever popular smart home technology, or even covert surveillance devices, lead to survivors feeling that they are constantly being watched.

• Online spaces are often misused to share personal information and use survivors’ online presence to stalk, monitor and harass them, leading survivors to feel the only safe action is to remove themselves from online platforms completely.

• Mobile phones are always with survivors and are home to many important accounts and information, providing a tool for abusers to constantly harass and track location information. If accounts on these devices are compromised this can lead to all messages, images and passwords being accessed and monitored, leading to survivors feeling unsafe to use their phones and fears around the abuser knowing everything they are doing and saying to others.  

• When survivors need to go to safe locations, refuge or temporary accommodation, this does not automatically mean they are now safe. Location can be compromised in many ways, and it is vital technology is not just considered but prioritised when safety planning around new safe locations.

Technology‑facilitated abuse can also intensify isolation. Survivors often withdraw from using technology, which then results in isolation from friends and family, online spaces and communities, cutting off vital support networks.

Because technology is complex and abuse tactics can be covert, survivors may struggle to identify exactly what is happening. Add this to responses from others telling them they won’t be believed, or that they are exaggerating things or that these things are impossible can then also lead to withdrawal from support networks and disengagement from services that could offer help.  

For many survivors, the most harmful part of seeking help is not the disclosure — it is not being believed. Survivors of tech abuse are telling us that professionals, friends and family members often use terms such as “paranoid”, “anxious” or “confused about how technology works” in response to their disclosure. After months or years of coercive control and gaslighting, further dismissal can have a significantly negative impact on survivors’ mental health and wellbeing.

Survivors consistently tell us that being believed matters, not just for the impact on mental health but also it is vital for survivors to get the support they need to secure their technology.

It is also essential to recognise that some survivors may already have long‑term or severe mental health diagnoses and this can highlight increased vulnerability —not reduced credibility. Mental health diagnosis must never be used to discount someone’s experience of abuse.

For professionals, believing a survivor does not require technical expertise or having all the answers. It means taking disclosures seriously, resisting assumptions and recognising that mental health distress may be a rational response to ongoing or past technology-facilitated abuse. Validation alone can reduce harm and increase safety. It is important to respond to each survivor understanding the nuances of their individual support needs and tailoring support in respect of this. It’s important to ask questions about technology-facilitated abuse as part of that discussion to better understand what they have experienced and may still be experiencing and having professional curiosity around concerns raised.  

This Mental Health Awareness Week, the Technology-Facilitated Abuse and Economic Empowerment Team at Refuge encourages professionals to reflect on responses to survivors raising concerns of technology facilitated abuse by: 

• Pausing before assuming mental health concerns are the cause rather than the impact of abuse

• Asking about technology use and digital safety as part of routine enquiry  

• Validating survivors’ experiences, even when tech abuse concerns are not fully understood  

• Signposting survivors to specialist domestic abuse services for further support

Training opportunities with Refuge

Back by popular demand, our next round of Open Access CPD accredited training sessions are now live. With insight from survivors and specialist caseworkers, each half day training (3.5 hours) is designed to upskill frontline professionals, providing deeper insight into technology facilitated abuse and how to support survivors and their children.

Technology Facilitated Abuse: Safeguarding Children and Young People

Wednesday 20th May - 10am-1:30pm
Get your tickets

Intimate Image Based Abuse

Thursday 21st May - 9:30am-1pm
Get your tickets

Online Stalking and Harassment

Wednesday 27th May - 9:30am-1pm
Get your tickets

Discounted ticket prices are available for staff working in VAWG services and statutory organisations.

New podcast episode

Refuge... In Conversation With, SignHealth

Featuring Dr Carly Stonard from the University of Wolverhampton and Marie Vickers, Head of Domestic Abuse Services at Sign Health. This episode focuses on the barriers d/Deaf survivors face when trying to access help. They discuss how technology like BSL 999 can improve access at moments of crisis, where systems still currently fall short, and what needs to change to ensure d/Deaf survivors can access safe, consistent and inclusive 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.

References

¹
Changing Lives (2025). Ending Digital Violence: Insights from Research on Tech‑Facilitated Abuse. 
https://www.changing-lives.org.uk/insights/insights-from-changing-lives-research-on-tech-facilitated-abuse