According to digital violence expert Nathalie Brunneke, who works in Berlin (Germany), online abuse of women largely stems from their previous or current relationships.
This expert also gave some advice for women to protect themselves from online abuse, especially when participating in social networks.
Set a strong password
According to Nathalie Brunneke, women should set strong passwords for essential accounts and not share them with anyone, including their loved ones. Using an account also causes risk problems. In addition, women should not use the same password for multiple accounts.
Be careful on social networks
Women should place their social media accounts in private mode and carefully monitor those who follow them.
Brunneke recommends not including location information in the post to avoid revealing your whereabouts. This could pose unexpected threats.
Check for unidentified applications
A sudden depreciation of your smartphone's battery or the presence of some unknown applications is a sign that monitoring software is installed on your phone. Therefore, according to experts, women should carefully check applications of unknown origin and remove them early.
Preserving evidence
When it comes to digital abuse, often expressed in the form of messages or conversations, it is very important to preserve evidence. Therefore, using screenshots of threatening messages from emails, text messages or on WhatsApp is very necessary, in case it needs to be proven.
Seeking help
Digital control is a crime and the police must take it seriously, Brunneke said. She also advised affected women to go to specialized counseling centers for both practical and psychological support.
Taking preventive measures
In the case of overusing image-based digital, such as spreading private images, prevention is important. Therefore, changing passwords and protecting access to data is what women should do.
