Digital Assistive Technology Toolkit

This toolkit provides frontline workers with tips and information to enhance their support of survivors who use digital assistive technology. Digital assistive technology devices help people with disabilities gather information and communicate. These devices can be the difference between being stuck in an abusive situation or being able to find resources and contact someone for help.

People with disabilities can also experience forms of TFGBV that are specific to their assistive technology, such as monitoring, overriding settings, threatening to break their devices, or interfering to prevent their use. This abuse can have a profound impact on survivors and limit their access to help and support.

The goals of this toolkit are:

• To enhance accessibility and safety for survivors with disabilities who are experiencing TFGBV and accessing shelter and transition house programs
• To inform frontline workers about the misuse of assistive technology to control or abuse a survivor

Word of Caution: This toolkit is available as read-only on this website with an option to download the PDF versions of each document. If you are reading this toolkit on a device that may be monitored by your abuser, do not download the PDF versions as they will automatically save in your downloads folder. If you think that someone is monitoring your phone, use a different device that the person cannot access (and that they have not had access to in the past), such as a computer at a library or a friend's phone. You can also use sheltersafe.ca to find a shelter/transition house near you to discuss options with an anti-violence worker.