[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$fxdon0x6umvjt":3,"$f10b3rz2z388kj":35},{"id":4,"blog_author_id":5,"blog_category_id":6,"is_featured":7,"title":8,"slug":9,"content":10,"content_overview":11,"published_at":12,"seo_title":8,"seo_description":13,"image":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"next":17,"prev":25},"01kt1gqmnq9bxx58bc2nbz16bp","9cdbdd6d-4900-4646-a012-d3e67a5ee788","1",false,"Abuse Survivors Targeted by Tech as Digital Abuse Surges","abuse-survivors-targeted-by-tech-as-digital-abuse-surges","\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Aberlour Children's Charity warns devices are being weaponised against women\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The digital abuse of women is soaring as their former partners weaponise technology, experts warn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Devices including mobile phones, doorbell cameras, and gaming platforms are being used to stalk, monitor and control women as frontline workers warn digital abuse is an escalating threat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Specialists supporting at-risk survivors say abusers are exploiting technology from apps to streaming services to exert coercive control long after relationships have ended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Aberlour Children’s Charity, which supports abuse survivors and their families, warns digital abuse has increased dramatically in recent years with its scale and impact demanding far greater awareness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>The charity’s Emma Kerr, who supports domestic abuse survivors and their families, said\u003C\u002Fstrong>:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>Not only is there more digital abuse but it is getting increasingly sophisticated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Only a few years ago, we would advise women leaving an abusive relationship to check their apps and location sharing permissions, reset phones to factory settings, change passwords and so on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Now the technology is evolving so rapidly that basic security measures are often not enough.  \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We’ve seen phones cloned, for example, so calls can be overheard, texts seen, and photos checked. There can be apps hidden on phones secretly relaying information to abusers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Men can be monitoring absolutely everything on their former partner’s phones while leaving no trace whatsoever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp>Kerr believes there should be far greater awareness of digital abuse and says combatting the weaponisation of technology is now a priority for support teams.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>She said:\u003C\u002Fstrong> \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>The first thing we do with women and children escaping abusive relationships is a risk assessment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The priority is securing their physical safety but that now includes the possibility of them being tracked, stalked and harassed through technology.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We need to ensure families are physically protected in their new location with additional security cameras, lighting, and locks, for example, but securing their digital lives can be just as important.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, children are being contacted and engaged by their estranged, abusive fathers through gaming and streaming platforms, like Xbox, and PlayStation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Kerr\u003C\u002Fstrong>, assistant service manager with \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fequallysafefalkirk.co.uk\u002F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Equally Safe\u003C\u002Fa>, support delivered in partnership with Falkirk Council and Barnardo’s, \u003Cstrong>said: \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>Dads will sometimes enter these platforms to contact their children in breach of access order.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Others will use different names to make a connection and then begin manipulating their children.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp>She said women have been shocked to discover partners and former partner had continuing access to banking apps, shopping accounts, streaming devices, email accounts and location tracking through social media platforms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Kerr said: \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>When we are building safety plans, one of our first questions will be what apps do women have and does your partner know the passwords?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Most importantly, do they have anything that reveals their location and could their partner or former partners have access to that information?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Very often, the women have not even thought about their phones being tools of abuse but, when asked, instantly recognise the potential.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The biggest, most immediate red flag for us when we get a referral through is if the woman shares a phone with her partner. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Whatever the reason, almost everyone has a phone now and a partner demanding to share one can signal excessive control.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp>Kerr said the tech is constantly evolving and abusers are increasingly skilled in finding ways to covertly exert control.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With many apps in the home now linked – personal assistants connected to doorbell cameras, for example – the potential for surveillance by former partners exploiting their knowledge of passwords is constantly expanding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The psychological impact can be profound, Kerr said, when women realise their former partner has been using digital devices to spy, stalk and harass them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Kerr said: \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>It is hugely unsettling and can make women, who have found the strength to leave abusive relationships, feel nowhere is safe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Their former partners might not be a physical presence inside their homes but to know they have been using electronics to secretly continue their controlling behaviour is disturbing. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“For someone to start recovering from abuse, they need to feel safe and this kind of insidious surveillance makes them feel the opposite. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Discovering such an invasion of privacy can increase their feelings of being trapped of having nowhere to go.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It shakes their confidence and reinforces feelings of anxiety and distrust.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How can women feel secure if they are on edge wondering if their calls and movements are being constantly monitored.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Lynne O’Brien, Chief Officer of Children and Families at Aberlour, said: \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>Women and children in Scotland are increasing being harmed by digital abuse. At Aberlour we know this is a growing issue, we are hearing from women and children that technology is increasingly being used to control, harm and cause fear. This is even when they have left the relationship, when we know women and children are most at risk. It is vital that men are held to account for digital abuse and we ensure that support for women and children includes understanding and mitigating the risks of digital abuse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.aberlour.org.uk\u002Fnews-item\u002Fsurvivor-reveals-how-abusive-ex-weaponised-apps-to-spy-on-her\">Read the story from one mum we support, on how her abusive ex weaponised apps to spy on her.\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp> \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>This article was written for The Herald and published on Sunday 31st May 2026.\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fp>",null,"2026-05-31T00:00:00.000000Z","Aberlour Children's Charity shares how digital abuse of women is soaring as their former partners weaponise technology.","media\u002FiStock-2217819874.jpg","2026-06-01T11:57:30.000000Z","2026-06-01T12:59:13.000000Z",{"id":18,"blog_author_id":5,"blog_category_id":6,"is_featured":7,"title":19,"slug":20,"content":21,"content_overview":11,"published_at":12,"seo_title":19,"seo_description":22,"image":23,"created_at":24,"updated_at":24},"01kt1m6yhpk9ybvdrhmnqjqthc","Survivor reveals how abusive ex weaponised apps to spy on her","survivor-reveals-how-abusive-ex-weaponised-apps-to-spy-on-her","\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>\"I kicked him out the house but he never left at all.\"\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At first, I thought my neighbours were spying on me. I had finally got him out of the house but somehow he still knew what was going on in the house.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew who was visiting, when I was out with the kids, where we had been. Everything. He claimed neighbours were keeping an eye on us for him. I became paranoid, suspicious of everyone around us but it wasn’t a neighbour at all. It was him using my own devices to spy on me. Inside my own home. Watching us, listening in. I had kicked him out but he had never left at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When we met, I had my own house and a good, stable life. Within a year, he had stopped paying his rent and moved in with me and the financial pressure started almost immediately. “We need to buy this. We need to do that.” There were loans, cards, more loans.  \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Within months, he’d stopped paying child maintenance and quit his job. Within a few more, we had around £20,000 of debt in my name. I was working 12-hour shifts, eleven days in a row, trying to keep afloat. I was earning good money but never enough. I wasn’t making a dent on the debt and he never stopped spending. It took me a little while to realise he was hiding a drug problem.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He took my car, decided who I spoke to, smashed my phones so we had to share one. I couldn’t send messages, couldn’t speak to anyone. He isolated me from my family.  If I tried to leave, it turned violent. The first time, he choked me. All I can remember was being hit off the fridge and off the cabinets and ending up on the tiles with his hand on my throat. After that, I stopped trying to leave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He made me feel like everything was my fault or I was making stuff up, getting it wrong. “You’re overreacting. You don’t get it. You’re being stupid.” That was constant. Even when he crashed the car when he was high, it was somehow my fault. Constantly gas-lighting me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I finally got him to leave and had put Ring cameras inside the house to keep an eye on the dog when we were out. We had an Alexa device on my Amazon account, and that was all linked to the cameras too. But he had set things up so he could access all of it. Everything was connected - same email, same passwords. He could sit and see us, inside our home,  rewind, watch us all day, every day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He did that for over a year. I didn’t know. I was living my life, thinking I had my space back, not realising he was still there. I only found out by accident. A friend was at my house when my ex phoned me and said, “I know he’s there. He’s sitting on the couch.” My heart dropped. That wasn’t a neighbour. It was him and he was watching. I finally got it, checked the app and he had been stalking us for months, checking in all through the day and night. There were live views from five, six, seven o’clock in the morning. He was sitting watching, clicking around, coming and going. It was hard to take in, to be honest. Made me feel sick.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It all started to make sense. How he knew all this stuff about our lives. When I confronted him, he said it was an accident that it had just showed up on his phone. Sure. And it wasn’t just Ring. He was inside all the devices and apps, email, Facebook, Instagram, Netflix. I had to change everything. New addresses, new passwords, remove apps. I shut it all down and started again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even then, I knew he was still trying to get in. He was nowhere near the house but when he was trying to access my devices it felt like he was right outside trying the locks. It makes you feel vulnerable. Looking back, it was always about control. When he felt he was losing control over me, things would escalate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During one fight, he even said it out loud: “You’re supposed to fear me. That’s how relationships work.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That sentence has never left me. When I raised it with him years later, he said it never happened, that I was making it up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’m rebuilding now. Financially, I have a plan. I’ll be debt-free in two years. All laid out. Emotionally, it’s harder. He had chipped away at the sense of myself, my confidence. I was constantly being told what to wear, what to say, who to speak to, what to think, how to behave. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sometimes I don’t really know who I am any more, that I’ve lost something. But I’ll find it again. Whatever, he took from me, I’ll get it back. And more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Mum, supported by Aberlour.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Stock image used.\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>This story was provided to The Herald and published on Sunday 31st May 2026.\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fp>","Woman supported by Aberlour Children's Charity shares how her abusive ex weaponised apps to spy on her.","media\u002FiStock-2262814359.jpg","2026-06-01T12:58:18.000000Z",{"id":26,"blog_author_id":5,"blog_category_id":6,"is_featured":7,"title":27,"slug":28,"content":29,"content_overview":11,"published_at":30,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":31,"image":32,"created_at":33,"updated_at":34},"01ksf8gzcbv2d94qp5e95k4pbq","Three years running: Aberlour is named one of The Sunday Times Top 100 Best Places to Work for big organisations.","three-years-running-aberlour-is-named-one-of-the-sunday-times-top-100-best-places-to-work-for-big-organisations","\u003Cp>For the third year in a row Aberlour Children’s Charity has been recognised in the official \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.thetimes.com\u002Fbest-places-to-work\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sunday Times Best Places to Work list\u003C\u002Fa> in the big organisations’ category.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This nationwide workplace survey celebrates the UK’s top employers, showcasing organisations that are leading the way in employee engagement, workplace culture and overall employee experience. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It also recognises organisations creating positive workplaces for women, the LGBTQIA+ community, disabled employees, ethnic minorities, younger and older workers, and those where staff enjoy the highest rates of wellbeing. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every member of staff at Aberlour, one of Scotland’s most respected children’s charities, was invited to take part, and we’re delighted that their feedback has once again led to this recognition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Staff rated us highly across the board including: \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cul>\n\u003Cli>93% were proud to work for Aberlour\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>90% have confidence in management\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>89% have job satisfaction\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>89% feel trusted to make decisions\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>88% of the team feel empowered\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>91% feel they are treated with respect\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>86% feel that Aberlour cares for their wellbeing\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003Cli>89% would recommend friends and family to work for Aberlour!\u003C\u002Fli>\n\u003C\u002Ful>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Justina Murray, Chief Executive, said:\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>I am absolutely delighted that Aberlour has been named in the Top 100 Best Places to Work for the third year running. Every day our amazing staff team show up for work full of energy, passion and pride in what we do. We know that placing trust, respect and care for each other at the heart of Aberlour makes it a great place to work, and we know this leads to better outcomes for our children and families too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Valerie Hogg, Director of People, said:\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>Being named in the Sunday Times Top 100 Best Places to Work is a fantastic achievement and a real testament to the people, values and culture that make our organisation so special.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fblockquote>","2026-05-25T00:00:00.000000Z","For the third year in a row Aberlour Children’s Charity has been recognised in the official Sunday Times Best Places to Work list in the big organisations’ category.","media\u002FBPTW_2026_BIG_ORGANISATION.jpg","2026-05-25T09:47:43.000000Z","2026-05-25T09:49:03.000000Z",{"id":36,"blog_author_id":5,"blog_category_id":6,"is_featured":7,"title":37,"slug":38,"content":39,"content_overview":11,"published_at":40,"seo_title":37,"seo_description":41,"image":42,"created_at":43,"updated_at":43},"01m45vtvk0pdb1y7c1cqv76edp","Panic and Promises Won't End Child Poverty","panic-and-promises-wont-end-child-poverty","\u003Cp>We live in a world that seems to spin faster every day, where all the dials are turned to 11 all the time.  \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The headlines crash from one calamity to another as our political leaders rush to promise emergency action while their opponents demand even more urgency. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It is noisy, tiring and a few hours later, when the news cycle spins to another red alert, the last one, whatever it was, is most often forgotten. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For years now, child poverty in Scotland has been routinely described as a national emergency demanding emergency action. It is and it does but, with more than one in five children still growing up in poverty in Scotland today, is it time to ask if the language of emergency and crisis is helping?  \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps it only encourages more haste but less speed, a birling carousel of taskforces and committees, policy papers and special reports, but too little measured and impactful action? Are we even checking if the blizzard of promises and commitments is being delivered before starting the snow machine again? \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What if the endless planning and process is actually slowing us down? What if somehow all the talk is delaying implementation of practical, tested, and effective measures to improve the lives and secure the life chances of the 210,000 children growing up poor in one of the wealthiest countries in the world? \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because we already know what works. We have known for years.  \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, there are no magic bullets, no simple solutions to the complex social issues that have blighted our poorest communities for decades. Child poverty, like Scotland’s drugs crisis, another national emergency, is embedded in longstanding economic trends that have stripped far too many of our neighbourhoods of jobs and hope. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those trends will not be reversed overnight but, in the meantime, we should not let perfect be the enemy of good. As Challenge Poverty Week begins today, the biggest challenge is to see the wood not the trees, to recognise and appreciate what is already working and build on it. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There are things that we know ease the impact of poverty on young lives; that have been trialled, tested and measured; that inch their families from peril to safety; that give them new strength, confidence and a path to a more secure future. So why not have more of them? \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These are services that our charity and others are delivering every day, hand in glove with our partners in social work, health care and education. These are services delivering real, measurable success, making children safer, healthier and happier today and improving their chances tomorrow. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Intensive family support, for example. The clue is in the name. It is the opposite of easy. Any family’s journey back from the very edge of crisis is one of hard yards and no shortcuts. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Our teams arrive to work, shoulder to shoulder, with families on the point of collapse, with children often on the edge of care. Ensuring those babies and young people are safe is always the priority but, after that, keeping them with their families is the driving force because that, all research suggests, is the best way to stabilise childhoods and secure futures. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Intensive family support means doing whatever it takes to keep children safe and families together. It can rebuild broken relationships; improve parents’ confidence in themselves; create new connections in communities; and help build firmer financial foundations with advice on welfare rights, maximising incomes and problem debt. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Any investment in intensive family support and other specialist services, for pregnant women and new mums, for example, is more than returned in thriving families, stronger communities and money saved. Resource is better spent on intensive support keeping families safely together, than managing their separation through a lifetime of crisis-led state intervention.  \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Our two Mother and Child Recovery Houses, in Falkirk and Dundee, for example, offer recovery spaces for pregnant and new mums with a history of substance use, allowing them to recover while staying safely with their babies. This helps keep families together and children at home, improves their futures and saves millions of pounds in avoided care costs. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is true child protection and the big question is not whether we can afford to roll out these services across Scotland but if we can afford not to?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Justina Murray \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cbr>\u003Cstrong>Chief executive of Aberlour Children’s Charity \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp> \u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>This article was written for the Daily Record and published on Monday 5th October 2026.\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fp>","2026-10-05T00:00:00.000000Z","Aberlour Children's Charity CEO, Justina Murray, explains what must be done to end child poverty in Scotland. We know what works and we've known for years. ","media\u002FRS873_0E5A9135.jpg","2026-10-05T11:05:26.000000Z"]