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A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers has introduced legislation that would pledge up to $22 million in public assistance to help victims of technology-assisted domestic violence.
Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Representatives Anna Esho (D-CA) and Debbie Lesko (R-AZ) introduced the Tech Safety for Victims of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault and Silence Act. [PDF] this week.
(Considering that this session of Congress is coming to an end and a new one will begin in early January, this bill should be renewed.)
If it somehow makes it all the way through Congress, the proposed legislation would allocate $2 million in grants to clinics and other partnerships that provide technology-enabled support for victims of sexual and domestic violence.
This type of abuse includes everything from stalking, harassing and threatening on social media platforms to manipulating victims through digital blackmail or installing spyware applications on phones.
The funding will be administered through a pilot project administered by the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women and will provide grants to up to 15 groups. Grant recipients could use the money to purchase replacement equipment for survivors or technology to reduce violence or “other benefits” to help victims, according to the proposal.
In addition, the bill would establish a second aid program. This, as well as up to $20 million under DOJ’s Office of Violence Against Women, will provide technical assistance to nonprofits, colleges and universities to develop training and education programs, and to organizations and individuals that help survivors.
“Survivors of domestic violence should not have to worry about an abusive partner stalking them on social media or hacking their email or other accounts or getting information about their whereabouts,” Wyden said in a statement.
“These horrors have become all too common, but there aren’t enough resources to help survivors prevent the abuse of technology by their attackers,” he added. “Education and training, as well as the support of more clinicians specializing in domestic abuse and technology, are desperately needed by survivors to get the care they need.”
The law cites a 2021 study by the National Network to End Domestic Violence, which found that 97 percent of programs that support victims of intimate partner violence use technology to stalk, harass or control their victims.
Several organizations have endorsed the legislation, including the National Coalition to Prevent Domestic Violence, the National Network to End Domestic Violence, Legal Momentum, EndTAB, New Beginnings, and Technology to End Abuse. ®
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