Dark side of young people's phone habit revealed
For many young Australians, tracking a partner's every move is a normal sign of love and affection, but there is a darker side to the growing trend.
Online following and monitoring has become common among family and friends but research published by the eSafety Commissioner on Thursday suggests this behaviour might be spilling over into romantic relationships.
Ashton Wood, chief executive of DV Safe Phone, said the trend was concerning and could have harmful consequences.
Mr Wood leads the organisation that provides free mobile phones to domestic violence victims across Australia.
"In domestic violence, we see lots around technology-facilitated abuse," he told AAP.
"It becomes a method of control and before the victim realises it, their partner is watching everything."
Mr Wood said it was important to have a safe phone - one that was not tracked or monitored.
"It's really critical if someone's in danger to have access to a device that their partner doesn't know about, that can be used without fear of being tracked or monitored," he said.
The eSafety Commissioner's research found 18.6 per cent of people aged 18 to 24 expected to track their partner whenever they wanted.
The study surveyed 2000 Australians aged 18 to 75, asking whether they agreed with certain harmful expectations and attitudes linked to tech-based coercive control in intimate relationships.
Tracking a partner can take many forms, including using Apple's Find My app or third-party apps such as Life360, which is popular among parents.
Maneesha Prakash from the Youth Advocacy Centre works with young people and delivers community legal education programs in schools.
The domestic and family violence lawyer said it had become widely normalised for people to track friends, partners and loved ones through social media.
"Most apps have the ability to share locations," Ms Prakash told AAP.
"(Young) people don't blink twice. They think it's normal. They think it's part of somebody caring about them.
"That leads to them getting into quite toxic relationships and all the flow-on effects."
The prospect of tracking a partner can be a form of tech-based coercive control, which is a pattern of abusive behaviour used to control someone within a relationship.
"A lot of young people find it really confronting when you talk to them about coercive control and how it's not normal behaviour to be constantly monitored," Ms Prakash said.
"We are seeing quite a lot of DV behaviours stemming from coercive control that comes with locating someone."
Ms Prakash said there were significant gaps in knowledge that left young people at a disadvantage.
"It's important to keep having conversations around consent and coercive control in schools and at home.," she said.
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