Tech Safety Planning Conversation Starters for Anti-Violence Workers Supporting Indigenous Survivors

This resource contains question prompts, tech safety strategies, and document links you can use to guide your safety planning conversations with Indigenous survivors experiencing tech-facilitated gender-based violence. Additional tech safety planning strategies can be found in the Tech Safety Planning Toolkit.

• Ask if the survivor is familiar with the term TFGBV and/or Digital Dating Violence.
• Determine what they know about TFGBV.
  • This could be used as a starter to explain the different types of violence that happen through technology.
• Define violence.

• What is Tech-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence?
• Is Tech Abuse Happening to You? (poster)

Potential Questions that Could be Asked:

• Do you have your own phone? What do you use your phone for?
• Does anyone keep you from talking to your family or friends?
• Do you share your phone with someone else or does anyone else look at your phone? Are you the owner of your phone account?
• Have you ever needed to use your phone but could not use it?
  Can you tell me more about what was going on?
• Does anyone know how to unlock your phone, have your passcode, or make you unlock it?
• What apps or social networks do you have an online presence on since leaving a community or relationship?
• Are your location services turned “on” on your cell phone?
• What devices do you have with you? Cell phone, tablets, or computer?

To support the survivor in protecting their privacy and location

• Help them turn off location-sharing permissions on their devices. (You can use a video or guide to walk through the steps).
• If they have an iPhone, consider going through Apple’s Safety Check tool together to review access and permissions.
• Assist with setting up two-factor authentication on their accounts to increase security.
• Encourage them to make a list of trusted people they feel safe sharing their location with, if location sharing is still needed.
• If the survivor is receiving threats or harassment, it may also be helpful to discuss changing their phone number.

• Have you recently updated your privacy settings?
• Does anyone know the password to your accounts?
• Do you know how to block a person or group on the social platforms you’re using?
• Are you familiar with how to report abusive content on social platforms?

To support safer use of social media

• Help the survivor change passwords on their social media accounts and review privacy settings to see who has access.
• Let them know they don’t need to use their real name or correct spelling when setting up a new account—this can make it harder for the abuser to find them.
• Encourage them to use a profile photo that doesn’t include themselves or their children, and to remove or hide existing photos and videos that could identify them.
• Remind them to avoid posting their location, especially in real time.
• When sharing digital resources, consider adding a QR code so survivors can easily access the material from a safe device.

For more information about supporting survivors from rural, remote, norther and Indigenous communities, see our Navigating Tech Abuse Toolkit.

Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) is part of a continuum of violence that can be both online and in-person. If you or someone you know is experiencing TFGBV, you are not alone. You can use sheltersafe.ca to find a shelter/transition house near you to discuss options and create a safety plan. You don’t need to stay in a shelter to access free, confidential services and support. 

We gratefully acknowledge Carrier Sekani Family Services and the Indigenous Shelter Advisory Committee for their support in the creation of this information sheet.