Domestic Violence Survivors’ Guide—A GUIDE FOR SURVIVORS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
This is a tough one.
Hopefully, you will never need to use it.
Unfortunately, someone you know may benefit from it.
On February 19, 2026, Elena Abate sent C:WED a note through our website.
She had found us online and was especially drawn to my post on the MeToo movement.
That post is entitled: #MeToo.
Elena wrote that she had something to offer our readers on domestic violence—for survivors and also for some who might in the throes of it.
She offered us permission to reprint the guide and so I do so now—for all of us—on how to protect ourselves, what to look for, how to get away, how to report the violence. What to know.
THANK YOU, ELENA!
This is the note Elena sent us:
SUBJECT
For DV survivors at cwed.org
MESSAGE
Hello Eleanor, I work in digital safety for vulnerable populations and recently assisted on a project with ExpressVPN that created a guide for survivors of domestic violence.
It focuses on how to secure devices, communications, and personal data when technology becomes part of the abuse.
Here’s the guide: https://www.expressvpn.com/blog/tech-safety-for-survivors-of-domestic-violence/
Your platform does meaningful work giving voice and support to survivors, and I believe this resource could genuinely help your audience stay safer online.
Would you consider including it here: https://cwed.org/blog/the-metoo-movement-mini-series-part-two?
Warm regards, Elena
I have pulled out a few items from the guide:
Who might benefit from this guide
Use this guide if...
You’re experiencing technology-enabled domestic abuse
You suspect someone might be spying on your computer or phone activity
You fear you may be targeted by someone in your home or family
You want a safe way to communicate with people you trust
You’re helping someone experiencing technology-enabled domestic abuse increase their safety
This guide will show you how to protect yourself from online surveillance so you can securely maintain contact with others and seek help privately.
This guide is meant to serve as a more technical complement to, not a replacement for, other guides on this topic, such as those from the National Network to End Domestic Violence [NNEDV].
Pulled from the NNEDV website:
The NNEDV sponsors the Safety Net Project, which explores technology safety in the context of intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and violence against women.
Safety Net includes a Safety Net Blog.
Some topics in the Safety Net Blog:
Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month at Safety Net: A Month in Review March 2, 2026
The Rollback of Instagram Encryption, and What It Means for Survivor Safety May 11, 2026
IN YOUR OWN WORDS:
—Thanks Anne. As always a very interesting piece. As the product of a Catholic school for girls I am at risk of sounding like a "know-it-all."
As a Midwesterner who attended a school staffed by the Sisters of Loretto, I was introduced to ideas and experiences that were unfamiliar to my NY sisters. For example, my Freshman religion teacher was Mary Luke Tobin. She was the only female in attendance at Vatican 2. She treated her students as young women who would change the world I was 13.
So continue your good work But don't underestimate the importance of what your Sunday classes * may be planting in the minds of those youngsters. Lots of love. —LB
My response:
*LB is referring to the religious formation Sunday program, Montessori-based Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, in which I, Anne, have been a catechist at a parish church for over 30 years.]
—Loved Melanie’s song. Thanks for sharing it, Anne. —Maryanne
—Thank you. —RE
The Epstein Survivors
After four current teen girls presented their stories on justice for girls in their countries through our mini-series,
can we relate better to the women who are speaking out—the Epstein survivors
—and—
possibly understand them as the teen girls they were at the time of their abuse ?
Keep them in mind and in your prayers.
Their saga,
a true-to-life cover-up,
must not be lost among other news.
C:WED WISH LIST:
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