Warning: This story contains references to coercive control and technology-facilitated abuse.

The eSafety Commissioner has issued an urgent warning over digital coercive control, saying that technologies such as those allowing for live-location tracking are normalising these behaviours among young people.

The eSafety Commission this week released an advisory on coercive control via technology and research on its prevalence among young Australians.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said that apps allowing for real-time location tracking and constant message surveillance are increasingly seen as normal among young Australians, and that this can “blur the line between affection and control” in romantic relationships.

“Young people have become so accustomed to a certain level of online tracking and monitoring by family and friends that it wouldn’t seem strange to expect similar digital access in a romantic relationship,” Inman Grant said.

“We urgently need to get the message out there that a respectful partner never expects to keep tabs on you 24/7.”

Invisible abuse

The report defines coercive control as a “pattern of behaviour that manipulates, intimidates and dominates another person, often in intimate or dating relationships”, and can involve control over who someone talks to or spends time with, the monitoring of messages and social media, and isolating someone from their friends and family.

The eSafety Commissioner said the increasing usage and availability of apps and services allowing friends and family to track each other online can normalise problematic digital behaviours in relationships.

“As technology becomes more embedded in relationships, it’s helping coercive control evolve in new and dangerous ways,” the advisory said.

“Technology can make coercive control feel normal, because it’s such a big part of young peoples’ lives. Many apps make it easy to allow a person to track, monitor and manipulate their boyfriend or girlfriend.”

“Because it’s digital, this abuse is often invisible to friends and family – and sometimes even to the person themselves.”

Increasingly normalised

A survey conducted by the eSafety Commission found that one in five young Australians aged 18 to 24 think it’s okay to track their partner wherever they go, and almost one in three think that constantly texting a partner to ask what they’re doing and who they’re with is a sign of care.

Nearly a quarter of those surveyed said that password sharing is part of a modern relationship, and about three in 10 said that checking how a partner looks in a photo before it is posted is a reasonable request.

These findings are troubling, Inman Grant said, with separate research finding that coercive control can lead to physical violence.

“As a country, we’re grappling with how to stem the devastating tide of intimate partner violence,” she said.

“But if we want to change these behaviours, we must challenge underlying attitudes that endorse and normalise controlling and monitoring behaviours in romantic relationships.

“It isn’t an exaggeration to say preventing tech-based coercive control, and the attitudes that condone it, can save lives.”

The eSafety Commission advised parents, carers and teachers to look for warning signs of coercive control, such as a withdrawal from friends or activities, high levels of anxiety or secrecy around a partner, and a change in mood or confidence.

Levels of technology-facilitated abuse have skyrocketed in Australia in recent years.

According to Victoria Police, levels of tech-facilitated abuse in Victoria have increased by 650 per cent over the last five years.

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