he Internet
Vicctim Service A
Agencies & th
Almost all victim servicce agencies have a website
e, social med ia page, or so
ome kind of o
online presencce. ne presence aare to share in
nformation a bout their services, raise aawareness ab
bout The goals of their onlin
domestic violence and sexual violen
nce with theirr community,, and to makee it easier for people to connect e it can be necessary for programs to bee online, therre are some ssteps that can
n be with the aagency. While
taken to e
ensure that th
he safety and privacy of th
he individuals who reach o
out to them fo
or information is protected
d. Add a Saffety Alert to Y
Your Website
e Many abu
users monitorr survivors’ on
nline activitie
es, whether thhrough lookin
ng over their shoulder, manually going througgh the interne
et browsing history, or via computer or cellphone monitoring software. Adding safetty alert inform
mation on you
ur website wiill remind surrvivors that th
heir activities could be m
monitored orr viewed by so
omeone who has access too the device. Keep in mind
d that safety alerts will not prevent the abuser frrom seeing what the survivvor is readingg if monitorin
ng software iss installed o
or if the survivor doesn’t e
erase the brow
wsing historyy. Quick Escape
e Button Create a Q
Some web
bsites also haave a quick esscape button on the page oof the site wh
here the survivor can click any time to be
e redirected tto an innocuo
ous webpage.. Quick escap e buttons willl only preven
nt immediate over‐
the‐shoulder monitoring, such as w
when the abusser walks in a nd the survivvor needs to q
quickly close aa nt the web browser from loogging the webpage to the browsing webpage.. This button won’t preven
history. Su
urvivors can m
manually erasse specific we
ebpages from
m the browserr history; deleeting one pagge and relate
ed searches m
might be saferr than clearin
ng all history iin case the ab
buser is suspiccious about tthe entire bro
owser history being delete
ed. Include In
nformation ab
bout Internett Safety Thorough
h information about internet and technology safety oon your webssite can be heelpful for survivors. This informaation may help them figure
e out how theey are being m
monitored an
nd strategize ffor their safety more effecctively. If survvivors can com
mmunicate w
with you throu
ugh your web
bsite or other ont about the
e safety risks of using that particular em
mail, site, or p
platform; whaat online spaaces, be upfro
informatio
on might be rretained on th
heir end (if th
hey send you an email, theey will retain a copy of that email in their sent mail, for example
e); and what information yyou will collect from them
m. The more has, the more
e informed he
er/his decisio n will be. knowledgge a survivor h
eb Form Inste
ead of Email A
Addresses Use a We
Some survvivors will waant to email the program to ask for helpp or resourcees and will go to the agencyy’s website fo
or the contacct information
n. Instead of listing the em
mail addressess of your stafff or a general email add
dress, it is safe
er for agencie
es to have a w
web form wheere the survivvor can post ttheir messagee, which will be submitte
ed as an email to the staff. A web form is safer becau
use it doesn’tt leave a reco
ord of Victim Servicce Agencies & the Internet
Pagge 1 of 3
©2014 Nationnal Network to End Domestic Violennce, Safety Net Prroject  www.nneddv.org/safetynet  safetynet [at] nneedv.org  202-543--5566
Supported byy US DOJ-OVC Grant # 2011-VF-GX
X-K016. Opinionss, findings, and connclusions or recom
mmendations exprressed are the autthors
and do not neecessarily represeent the views of DO
OJ.
Vicctim Service A
Agencies & th
he Internet
the email in the sender’s email sentt folder, which the abuser could find ou
ut by going th
hrough the uter with spyw
ware, however, a survivor’ss email account. If the abussive individuaal is monitorinng the compu
web form
m will not concceal that a survivor has reaached out forr help. Web fo
orms are also
o more convenient because sstaff names and emails are
en’t listed offe
ering more prrivacy for stafff. For more information about safe em
mail practicess with survivoors, see this handout. [Linkk to spyware handout.]] ation Online Limit Survvivor Informa
Advocates and program
ms should never share info
ormation aboout survivors without the d
direct permission of the surrvivor. Most p
programs cannot share ide
entifying inforrmation abou
ut survivors w
without an informed,, written, and
d time‐limited
d release. Eve
en when prog rams are imp
plementing so
ocial media/o
online campaign
ns to raise awaareness abou
ut domestic or sexual violeence, if survivvors informatiion is being shared, it should only b
be done so w
with their direct permissionn and followin
ng federal and
d state urvivors should be informe
ed of exactly w
what will be shared, who will potentiallly confidenttiality laws. Su
see the in
nformation, and possible consequencess of sharing thhis informatio
on. nd privacy obbligations, visiit www.nnedv.org/tools. For more information on client conffidentiality an
deos Posting Pictures & Vid
ou post any pictures or vide
eos online, be
e sure to get informed con
nsent from th
hose in the Before yo
pictures o
or videos. If yo
ou are hosting an event where you will be taking ph
hotographs orr videos, allow
w those present to opt out. They can choose to rem
main out of frrame or you ccan have a deesignated areea for o don’t wish tto have their image posted
d online. Donn’t forget thatt you should aalso get those who
permissio
on from staff, members of your board, p
presenters, a nd speakers; do not assum
me that becau
use they workk for your age
ency or was in
nvited to speaak publically ffor you, that they are willing to have th
heir images po
osted online. ne Offering SServices Onlin
Many pro
ograms may b
be tempted to
o connect with survivors annd provide seervices througgh online spaaces, such as so
ocial media, fo
orums, or chaatting website
es. Most of thhese websites are not buillt to offer seccure, private, and confidentiial conversatiions. Addition
nally, using thhe internet to
o communicatte adds anoth
her layer of saafety risks and privacy plan
nning that ad
dvocates and survivors must think throu
ugh. While it might be possible to co
onnect with ssurvivors thro
ough these sppaces, agenciees must thinkk through all tthe ne privacy con
ncerns or posssible risks to prrivacy and saffety that mayy exist, which may include general onlin
misuse byy the abuser. Victim Servicce Agencies & the Internet
Pagge 2 of 3
©2014 Nationnal Network to End Domestic Violennce, Safety Net Prroject  www.nneddv.org/safetynet  safetynet [at] nneedv.org  202-543--5566
Supported byy US DOJ-OVC Grant # 2011-VF-GX
X-K016. Opinionss, findings, and connclusions or recom
mmendations exprressed are the autthors
and do not neecessarily represeent the views of DO
OJ.
Vicctim Service A
Agencies & th
he Internet
Include A
Accurate Inforrmation The intern
net is global. If you have in
nformation on
nline that is sspecific to you
ur area(countty, state, regio
on) make thatt clear. Some laws and pro
ocesses (such as orders of protections) or services (ssuch as state‐‐wide hotlines) aare state or ccounty specific. Survivors w
who visit yourr site may be from across the country o
or even world and should
d be aware that some or alll of the infor mation provided might no
ot be applicab
ble to them. Age
encies should
d also list areaa codes with ttheir hotliness and phone n
numbers as w
well as office h
hours so survivo
ors know whe
en to contact for help. Accessibillity Make you
ur website mo
ore accessible
e for all viewe
ers, including those with lo
ow vision or w
who are blind
d or are Deaf C
Check that im
mages on yourr website havve alternativee text descripttions (html alt text). For lin
nks, make sure
e there is con
ncise and desccriptive text w
within each li nk (and withiin the html tittle tag) that describes where the lin
nk takes a visitor. Doing so
o will ensure tthat someonee who is acceessing your sitte or page via aa screen reader can listen tto helpful and
d accurate infformation. If posting video
o or audio, include captions o
or transcripts so those who
o are hard‐off‐hearing or D
Deaf can also receive the in
nformation.
Victim Servicce Agencies & the Internet
Pagge 3 of 3
©2014 Nationnal Network to End Domestic Violennce, Safety Net Prroject  www.nneddv.org/safetynet  safetynet [at] nneedv.org  202-543--5566
Supported byy US DOJ-OVC Grant # 2011-VF-GX
X-K016. Opinionss, findings, and connclusions or recom
mmendations exprressed are the autthors
and do not neecessarily represeent the views of DO
OJ.