Domestic abusers are increasingly using AI, smartwatches and other technology to attack and control their victims, a domestic abuse charity says.
Record numbers of women who were abused and controlled through technology were referred to Refuge’s specialist services during the last three months of 2025, including a 62% increase in the most complex cases to total 829 women. There was also a 24% increase in referrals of under-30s.
Recent cases included perpetrators using wearable tech such as smartwatches, Oura rings and Fitbits to track and stalk women, disrupting their lives through smart home devices that control lights and heating, and using AI spoofing apps to impersonate people.
Emma Pickering, head of the tech-facilitated abuse team at Refuge, said: “Time and again, we see what happens when devices go to market without proper consideration of how they might be used to harm women and girls. It is currently far too easy for perpetrators to access and weaponise smart accessories, and our frontline teams are seeing the devastating consequences of this abuse.
“It is unacceptable for the safety and wellbeing of women and girls to be treated as an afterthought once a technology has been developed and distributed. Their safety must be a foundational principle shaping both the design of wearable technology and the regulatory frameworks that surround it.”
Refuge said it was far too easy to access and weaponise smart accessories and that women’s safety needed to be factored into their design.
One survivor Refuge worked with, Mina, left behind her smartwatch in a rush to flee her abuser, who then used it to track her by using linked cloud accounts to locate her emergency accommodation.
“[It] was deeply shocking and frightening. I felt suddenly exposed and unsafe, knowing that my location was being tracked without my consent. It created a constant sense of paranoia; I couldn’t relax, sleep properly, or feel settled anywhere because I knew my movements weren’t private,” she said.
Despite police returning the device to Mina, she was located at her next refuge by a private investigator hired by her abuser, using suspected tracking via technology. She reported the breaches to police but was told no crime had been committed because she had “not come to any harm”.
“I was repeatedly asked to move for my safety, rather than the technology being dealt with directly or the smart watch being confiscated from him. Each move made me feel more unstable and displaced,” she said.
“Overall, the experience left me feeling unsafe, unheard, and responsible for managing a situation that was completely out of my control. It showed me how tech abuse can quietly and powerfully extend coercive control, and how easily survivors can be left to carry the emotional and practical burden when systems don’t fully understand or respond to it.”
Abusers were also increasingly using AI tools to manipulate survivors, Pickering said. For example, they might alter a…
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