Life, death and cellphones

Opinion

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This article was published 11/06/2024 (486 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Changing your phone number can often mean the difference between life and death for someone fleeing domestic violence.

It should be a no-brainer that tech companies offer flexibility to allow survivors who are escaping a harmful or violent situation at home to be released from their family phone plans or change their phone numbers.

Sadly, that is not the case.

Inflexibility, high costs, and an inability to be released from a family phone plan is often what survivors are met with when contacting cellphone providers.

Worse, in some cases, the tech companies have requested that a survivor get in touch with their abuser to obtain consent before releasing them from a family cellphone plan.

This means survivors are often forced into keeping a direct line open to their abusers long after they’ve escaped an unsafe situation. Things like surveillance, location tracking, harassment, threats, and distributing non-consensual images can continue under these circumstances. Abusers can even thwart a survivor’s attempt in reaching out for help by monitoring their phone activity and blocking their access to the internet.

Women’s Shelter Canada is now calling on the phone companies to make changes that are sensitive to the needs of vulnerable individuals fleeing intimate-partner violence.

This follows on the heels of a report released by the organization last week highlighting the barriers that exist with major tech companies. They are calling on tech companies to adopt a trauma-informed approach and make it easier for survivors to be released from family plans or obtain new phone numbers.

It’s long overdue.

Tech-facilitated, gender-based violence is one of the fastest growing forms of intimate-partner violence. In fact, 44 per cent of shelter workers across Canada say they’ve witnessed family mobile plans being used against survivors who’ve sought refuge within a domestic violence shelter.

When Women’s Shelter Canada contacted three of the major tech companies in Canada with requests for getting survivors out of family plans or changing their phone numbers, assistance was sorely lacking.

In one instance, instead of helping a survivor, a tech representative tried upselling them on a credit card promotion. Now that Telus, Rogers and Bell have all been consulted on the issue, they’ve acknowledged the problem and agreed to review their process to better support victims.

It is incumbent upon them to take swift action and bring about these changes to their policies immediately.

If the tech companies don’t respond in a timely and trauma-informed way, government should step in.

Legislation can be introduced, mirroring a current law that provides a way for survivors to end tenancy agreements due to domestic or sexual violence, stalking and harassment.

Under the Residential Tenancies Act, survivors can end a housing lease or tenancy agreement if they feel unsafe in their home or believe there is a risk to their safety. Furthermore, by contacting Victims Services to get the necessary forms for being released from a tenancy agreement, survivors are also put in touch with much-needed services and support.

It was an initiative launched over a decade ago by the NDP government, strengthened by the PC government — meaning it was important, life-saving legislation that was supported by everyone. It continues to be a lifeline for many vulnerable people in our province. If you or anyone you know needs help in getting out of a tenancy agreement because of intimate-partner violence, you can call Manitoba Justice Victims Services at 204-945-6851. More information can be obtained here: https://www.gov.mb.ca/justice/vs/dvs/tenancy/pubs/tenancy_overview.pdf

Manitoba has some of the highest rates of domestic and sexual violence in the country. It is fitting that our province continues to be a leader in enacting initiatives to combat the problem, including being the first in Canada to co-design a housing benefit with the federal government under the Canada Housing Benefit. This new benefit means that survivors can access much-needed resources to obtain new housing after leaving abusive situations.

Of interest, the Ontario PC government recently announced that it would support an NDP private members’ bill to declare intimate-partner violence an epidemic in that province.

Further, the Ontario premier called for a standing committee on justice to do an in-depth study on all available programs and areas of improvement for addressing the scourge. I have no doubt something like this would have an impact on helping survivors and perhaps something our NDP government should consider.

Leaving an abusive relationship is undoubtedly a monumental challenge. Asking phone companies for flexibility in getting out of family plans or to change a phone number is a must-needed step in helping victims rebuild a better life. It’s long overdue.

Rochelle Squires is a recovering politician after 7 1/2 years in the Manitoba legislature. She is a political and social commentator whose column appears Tuesdays. rochelle@rochellesquires.ca