As Valentine’s Day and Safer Internet Day approach, Refuge is warning that emerging forms of abuse involving AI and wearable technology – including smart glasses and watches – are increasingly being misused by abusers to stalk, surveil and control survivors.
To raise awareness of these trends and others, the UK’s largest specialist domestic abuse charity is hosting a four-part webinar series that will explore how digital tools and devices are being used to perpetrate abuse – from the weaponisation of smart accessories and AI companions to romance scams and cyberflashing.
For years, Refuge has led efforts to raise awareness of tech-facilitated abuse and reform laws to better protect survivors. Yet the problem is growing.
Referrals to the charity’s specialist Technology-Facilitated Abuse and Economic Empowerment team rose by more than 62% in 2025 compared to 2024, with the final three months of the year the highest on record for a single quarter, reflecting the increasing complexity of tech-facilitated abuse cases presenting to frontline services.
Refuge has also seen a 24% increase in referrals involving survivors under the age of 30, highlighting the worrying prevalence of digital control and surveillance in younger people’s relationships.
As technology evolves and becomes increasingly accessible, new forms of tech-facilitated abuse are proliferating. Refuge’s tech team is seeing a rise in the weaponisation of smart accessories, including glasses used to secretly record survivors The team is also aware of health trackers such as rings or watches being misused to monitor step counts, track a survivor’s location, or even access and exploit a survivor’s fertility data.
Emma Pickering, Head of the Tech-Facilitated Abuse and Economic Empowerment Team at Refuge, said:
“Refuge supports countless survivors subjected to tech-facilitated abuse every single day. Time and again, we see what happens when devices go to market without proper consideration of how they might be used to harm women and girls. It is currently far too easy for perpetrators to access and weaponise smart accessories, and our frontline teams are seeing the devastating consequences of this abuse.
“Enough is enough. As wearable technology becomes embedded in our lives, protections for survivors must keep pace. It is unacceptable for the safety and wellbeing of women and girls to be treated as an afterthought once a technology has been developed and distributed. Their safety must be a foundational principle shaping both the design of wearable technology and the regulatory frameworks that surround it.”
Mina’s story
The case of Mina, a survivor of tech-facilitated abuse, illustrates the real-world impact of these trends and how wearable devices can be weaponised.
In her rush to flee her abuser, Mina left behind her smartwatch – and was tracked. Her perpetrator located her at the emergency accommodation she had fled to after accessing linked cloud accounts. Police later recovered the device and returned it to Mina, who immediately deactivated and disposed of it, terrified of being stalked again.
Despite this, Mina was located at her next refuge by a private investigator hired by her perpetrator, using suspected tracking via technology.
She reported the breaches to police but was told that no crime had been committed because she had “not come to any harm.” Mina said Refuge’s support gave her “peace in her heart” and praised the charity for demonstrating a stronger understanding of tech-facilitated abuse than police and legal professionals.
Reflecting on the abuse, Mina said:
“Realising I was being stalked through cloud accounts linked to my smart watch was deeply shocking and frightening. I felt suddenly exposed and unsafe, knowing that my location was being tracked without my consent. It created a constant sense of paranoia; I couldn’t relax, sleep properly, or feel settled anywhere because I knew my movements weren’t private.
“Overall, the experience left me feeling unsafe, unheard, and responsible for managing a situation that was completely out of my control. It showed me how tech abuse can quietly and powerfully extend coercive control, and how easily survivors can be left to carry the emotional and practical burden when systems don’t fully understand or respond to it.”
Webinar details
Refuge’s webinar series: Digital Control: Tech-Facilitated Abuse in Modern Relationships, comprises four hour-long sessions with short Q&As, offering practical guidance for survivors, practitioners and the public.
Emma Pickering, said:
“Safer Internet Day and Valentine’s Day offer a timely opportunity to spotlight emerging forms of tech-facilitated abuse and the vital work of Refuge’s tech team. Through the webinars, we will highlight how digital worlds and devices are being misused to stalk, control and exploit survivors, exploring how people can recognise and respond to these risks.”
Webinar sessions:
- Fashioning Consent: Rethinking Smart Accessories – 3 February, 10–11:15am
- Swiping Safely: Navigating Dating Apps After Abuse – 11 February, 10–11:15am
- Behind the Screen: Romance Scams and Domestic Abuse – 17 February, 11am–12:15pm
- Artificial Intimacy: Exploring the Risks of AI Companions – 25 February, 11am–12:15pm
Book tickets, here
