Western Trust Practitioners attended a Technology Facilitated Domestic Abuse Seminar in Omagh at which Mr Steven McNeill, Senior Social Work, South Eastern Trust provided an insightful seminar in Omagh for practitioners from the statutory, community and voluntary sector who support people experiencing domestic abuse. This seminar had been collaboratively organised under the auspices of the Western Domestic and Sexual Violence Partnership and Digital Safeguarding Steering Group with kind support from Fermanagh and Omagh PCSP and the Education Authority.

Steven provided practitioners with an understanding of the power and control which can be enforced by the perpetrator on a victim through their use of technology. He shared how the perpetrator uses this misuse to continue to try and control and abuse and the risk this then presents to the victim’s personal safety. Steven provided ideas and strategies which can be used by victims/survivors to access help to ensure their safety and remain connected to family and friends.

Every practitioner who attended this event reported that after listening to Steven their knowledge of this form of abuse had increased. One comment in the evaluation of the session read, “I was stunned at all the different ways how normal things can be used as a negative in perpetrating hands.”  Another comment read –“I thought I had a good understanding of how abusers misuse technology, however I found this training very informative and there was a lot of info I didn’t know and was not aware of.”

Plans have already commenced for the Western Domestic and Sexual Violence Partnership and Digital Safeguarding Steering Group in putting into action this new knowledge and understanding provided by Steven.