Digital Systems, Housing Insecurity and Domestic Abuse

Over 80 organisations from across the UK - housing associations, local authorities, homelessness services, welfare teams, specialist domestic abuse organisations and policy leads - joined our webinar organised by the Housing team at Standing Together, Housing Insecurity, Digital Systems and Domestic Abuse, exploring how digitalisation of the benefits system is impacting survivors.

The scale of engagement shows just how urgently the sector wants to understand and address these issues. At Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse, and through our work leading the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA) and on Housing First for women impacted by Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), we know that conversations like this are essential to strengthening the housing sector’s response to domestic abuse.

This webinar was also held as part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, a global campaign calling on all sectors to reflect on how systems either support or fail survivors. With this year’s international theme focusing on technology-facilitated abuse and digital harm, the discussion could not have been more timely. Digital systems now shape access to money, housing, safety and autonomy - and without safeguards, they can deepen inequalities and expand opportunities for coercive control. Our session offered a space to examine these dynamics directly within the UK’s housing and welfare landscape.

The conversation explored the complex and often hidden ways digital systems create barriers for those experiencing domestic abuse. Economic abuse frequently involves perpetrators controlling access to money, devices, transport, documents, and bank accounts - and digital systems such as Universal Credit can unintentionally give perpetrators more tools to exert control. Survivors often have no safe phone, no access to email, no data, and no ability to verify identity digitally. For many, the system is overwhelming, especially when navigating benefits for the first time during crisis.

We also heard how structural inequalities shape digital exclusion. Racialised survivors, migrant women, disabled survivors, older people, LGBTQ+ survivors, people in poverty, and those experiencing homelessness face compounded digital barriers. Many lack a safe device, stable internet, or the privacy needed to navigate online systems safely. Without face-to-face assessments, opportunities to disclose abuse or identify risk are diminishing, leaving survivors more isolated and unsupported.

The case study of Sam was a powerful reminder of this intersection. Sam’s experience - living in a hostel, limited mobility, economic dependence, loss of her phone, and total reliance on someone else to access her money - showed how digital exclusion, coercive control, and multiple disadvantage collide. Her story resonated with many attendees because it reflects what frontline services are seeing every day.

Questions from participants highlighted the urgency of the issue:

• How do we support survivors without phones or ID?

• What happens when perpetrators control UC journals or receive notifications first?

• How do we prevent sanctions and arrears caused by digital barriers?

• How can documentation be strengthened so DWP recognises economic abuse?

• How do we challenge discriminatory digital-only systems?

These are the very challenges that  Standing Together and DAHA work with housing providers to address, helping organisations embed safe, trauma-informed and intersectional practice. Our guidance, accreditation framework, and partnerships with local authorities and housing associations all exist to support exactly this kind of systemic change.

It was also encouraging to hear positive examples from DAHA-accredited members who are already creating safer pathways - such as co-locating DWP workers in housing offices, offering safe digital access points, documenting digital abuse clearly, using flexible funding to replace lost ID or phones, and strengthening multi-agency practice around UC.

One message from the session was clear: digital systems are not neutral. Without alternatives and safeguards, they replicate existing inequalities and can be weaponised by perpetrators in ways that restrict survivors’ freedom, safety and housing stability. This echoes the global 16 Days call to recognise digital harm as a form of gendered violence - and to hold systems accountable for their role in preventing or perpetuating that harm.

At Standing Together and DAHA, we will continue supporting housing providers to recognise these risks early, challenge harmful system design, and build safer pathways for survivors. Housing plays a critical role in preventing harm, sustaining tenancies, and ensuring survivors are not excluded because a system was not designed with their realities in mind.

Thank you to every attendee who contributed to this conversation. Your insight, commitment and willingness to confront these challenges help drive the change that survivors deserve. We look forward to continuing this work together - not only during the 16 Days of Activism, but every day - to ensure that technology supports safety, never undermines it.