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Wyden, Dingell & Nunn Reintroduce Bill to Prevent Abusers From Targeting Survivors with Technology
By Oregon U.S. Senator Ron Wyden
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and U.S. Representatives Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., and Representative Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, reintroduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to help prevent domestic abusers from using technology to stalk, harass or control survivors.
With today’s rapidly growing digital environment, technology-enabled abuse has taken many forms, including social media platforms, phone-based apps, and specialty spyware programs. Because of the diversity of platforms in today’s growing digital environment, it’s clear that abuse does not require huge financial resources or sophisticated understanding of technology, and survivors rarely have the tools they need to recognize and prevent abuse.
The Tech Safety for Victims of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking Act would provide new grant funding to clinics and other partnerships focused on domestic violence and technology-enabled abuse prevention. It would also support new training that would give organizations the specialized services necessary to help survivors with a range of experiences.
“As technology continues to evolve, so do the tactics of abusers who are grossly leveraging many different platforms to stalk, harass and control survivors of domestic violence – from tracking them on social media to hacking into their email,” Wyden said. “Survivors deserve support and the tools to protect against abuse in any shape or form. More education, training, and health care clinics are needed.”
“It’s critical that we recognize domestic abuse and sexual harassment often extend beyond physical violence,” Dingell said. “To fully protect survivors, we must keep up with the many ways that abusers can use technology to stalk, harass, control, or otherwise endanger their victims. This legislation will support specialized education and resources for advocates and victim service providers to recognize, prevent, and combat tech-enabled abuse.”
“In the Iowa statehouse, I led efforts to protect survivors from the growing threat of digital abuse. Now, we’re taking that work nationwide,” Nunn said. “This bill strengthens community-based networks that are on the frontlines, giving them the tools to recognize and address tech-enabled abuse and help victims secure their devices. Survivors deserve both safety and support, and this legislation delivers both.”
The legislation would take two steps in combating technology-enabled domestic abuse:
- It would authorize a pilot project run by the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women to establish more tech-enabled abuse clinics. The program would provide $2 million grants for up to 15 clinics and other organizations that support survivors of sexual and domestic violence who are experiencing technology-enabled abuse.
- It would establish another grant program, which is also under the DOJ’s Office on Violence Against Women, to ensure nonprofit organizations and higher education institutions develop and implement training and technical assistance for groups working to prevent tech-enabled abuse.