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Comment by 0xcde4c3db | Hacker News Reader

> When a victim uninstalls the devices, this can escalate a conflict, experts said. “The abuser can see it’s disabled, and that may trigger enhanced violence,” said Jennifer Becker, a lawyer at Legal Momentum, a women’s rights legal advocacy group.

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But if we arrive to the point of violence, wouldn't digital devices be pretty irrelevant anyway? Like if things are starting to get out of control why is the victim even staying in proximity to the abuser and not getting help from the police or at the very least staying away at a friend's place or something?

In the few cases I've seen personally, it's because they're afraid of the abuser's reaction. They're afraid that if they go to a friend's house, the abuser will go there and break in. They're afraid that if they call the police, the abuser will find out, fool the police into thinking that everything is okay, and then escalate from there. They're afraid that even if the abuser is arrested, convicted and imprisoned, the punishment is just delayed until the release.

If I hit someone repeatedly with their toaster, and they uninstall the toaster, so I beat them with their frying pan, the fact that they owned a toaster isn’t very relevant in the situation, the hitting is

It seems like this is a bit different, though.

The equipment can be used to spy on people and harass them when the abuser isn't even there.

You're missing the escalation aspect. The risk is that the abuser starts hitting harder or switches to a deadly weapon like a gun or knife.

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