Today, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, Women’s Shelters Canada is officially launching our new Tech Safety Canada resource, the Digital Financial Abuse Toolkit.
Today also marks the beginning of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence; the international theme this year is #NoExcuse for online abuse. Over the next two weeks, we’ll be exploring the realities of digital financial abuse and sharing tools, safety tips, and resources from our newly launched toolkit, developed through our Tech Safety Canada project.
These resources are designed to help survivors protect their financial autonomy and assist frontline workers in better supporting them. The toolkit includes information on:
- Safety planning with survivors
- Securing your online financial information
- What to do if you’re a victim of financial fraud or coerced debt
- Preventing harassment through Interac e-Transfer®
- Phishing scam resources
Digital financial abuse is a systemic issue. We’ll be examining the role that banks, financial institutions, and governments can play in strengthening their policies and frameworks to keep survivors safe. The federal government’s announcement of a voluntary Code of Conduct for the Prevention of Economic Abuse for financial institutions is a big step forward, but it needs to go further. Survivors deserve enforceable protections and systems designed with their safety in mind.
Digital safety is a critical part of gender equality, and ending GBV means addressing its digital and economic dimensions, too. We believe survivors of digital financial abuse.
Women’s Shelters Canada thanks TD Bank Group for funding this toolkit through its corporate citizenship platform, the TD Ready Commitment. We also thank Interac Corp. for funding the resources on Interac e-Transfer®.