To mark the UN’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, Refuge is releasing new data revealing why this year’s focus on ending digital violence is more urgent than ever.
Refuge’s frontline domestic abuse services have seen a significant rise in survivors reporting tech-facilitated and economic abuse, highlighting how perpetrators are increasingly weaponising technology to exert coercive control – from stalkerware which involves tracking a survivor’s every move, to the creation of harmful deepfakes, and control over online banking access.
Referrals to Refuge’s Technology-Facilitated Abuse and Economic Empowerment Team rose by 62% in the first nine months of 2025 compared with the same period last year.
By the end of September, the team had already received more referrals than in the whole of 2024. Refuge is also seeing a notable rise in reports of surveillance, with more survivors reporting concerns about hidden microphones and cameras in their homes – something now reported in the majority of cases.
This trend reinforces the urgent need to address tech-facilitated abuse as part of the wider effort to end gender-based violence. Despite sustained campaigning by Refuge and others in the sector, law, policy and regulation continue to lag behind the rapid pace of technological change.
This is why Refuge is calling on the Government to make tackling tech-facilitated abuse a key priority in its upcoming VAWG strategy, backed by dedicated, sustainable funding for specialist services.
Dame Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner, said:
“I’m increasingly hearing from survivors that their devices and social media have been weaponised by abusers to control them.
“The rise in cases of technology-facilitated abuse is a huge concern – this kind of abuse can have a devastating impact on a survivor’s life and requires specialist support to rebuild from.
“Victims’ safety must be at the heart of the response from government, tech companies and Ofcom. There must be proper enforcement of and compliance with regulations which aim to protect victims and prevent harm online, as well as sustainable funding for the specialist services which provide much-needed support.”
Emma Pickering, Head of the Technology-Facilitated Abuse and Economic Empowerment Team at Refuge, said:
“Sadly, it’s no surprise that we’re seeing a rise in tech abuse at a time when VAWG is at epidemic levels. The tools that can be weaponised against survivors are becoming increasingly accessible and affordable to perpetrators.
“This is why we urgently need a proactive policy approach, including regulation that ensures safety is built in by design, rather than harms being addressed as an afterthought. It’s crucial to remember that what we see at Refuge is just the tip of the iceberg. Tech-facilitated abuse is hugely underreported by police forces, statutory services, and survivors themselves, meaning the true scale of this crisis is still largely hidden from view.”
Lynda, a survivor of tech abuse, said:
“At one point, I thought he’d tapped my phone. It wasn’t until I was doing a deep clean that I found cameras in the house. There was one on top of the mantlepiece – just sitting on the soundbar – a tiny little camera. I even found another hidden inside a light switch on the wall.
“When I confronted him, he gaslit me into thinking they weren’t cameras at all. If I was out having coffee with my mum, he’d just turn up, even though I hadn’t told him where I was. It made me feel frightened – like he knew exactly where I was, who I was with, and what I was doing at all times.
“It really unsettled me – it made me feel like I was living in some sort of Truman show. Like it wasn’t my real life.”
