WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, the U.S. Senate handed the Secure Connections Act, bipartisan laws cosponsored by U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) that may assist survivors of home violence and different crimes minimize ties with their abusers and separate from shared wi-fi service plans, which might be exploited to observe, stalk, or management victims.
“Oftentimes, victims in home abuse conditions stay tied to their abusers by their cellphone plans,” Senator Capito stated. “It’s harmful, provides abusers leverage, and discourages victims from reaching out to hotlines or others for assist. The Secure Connections Act is an instance of excellent, bipartisan laws that may take steps to enhance security and most significantly, empower these in abusive conditions to hunt and get assist.”
Survivors of home violence, courting violence, stalking, sexual assault, and human trafficking typically face challenges when establishing independence from an abuser. These embrace monetary insecurity and restricted entry to the communications instruments important to sustaining connections with household, social security networks, employers, and assist companies.
As survivors search assist and stabilize their lives, the Secure Connections Act, authored by U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), would assist them keep secure and related by:
- Permitting survivors to separate a cell phone line from any shared plan involving an abuser with out penalties or different necessities. This contains traces of any dependents of their care.
- Requiring the Federal Communications Fee (FCC) to provoke a rulemaking continuing to hunt touch upon the right way to assist survivors who separate from a shared plan enroll within the Lifeline Program for as much as six-months as they change into financially secure.
- Requiring the FCC to determine guidelines that may guarantee any calls or texts to hotlines don’t seem on name logs.
The Secure Connections Act is supported by Entry Now, the Clinic to Finish Tech Abuse at Cornell College, the Hawai‘i State Coalition Towards Home Violence, the Worldwide Justice Mission, the Nationwide Home Violence Hotline, Public Information, RAINN, StrongHearts Helpline, Authorized Momentum – the Girls’s Authorized Protection and Schooling Fund, the Nationwide Community to Finish Home Violence, the Digital Privateness Data Heart, the Home Violence Motion Heart, the Heart for Democracy and Know-how, and Polaris.
The invoice now heads to the U.S. Home of Representatives for consideration.
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