NortonLifeLock Expands Partnership To Help End Domestic Violence

By Kimberly Bishop, Corporate Responsibility

NortonLifeLock has been a longtime supporter of the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV), an organization representing the 56 U.S. state and territorial domestic violence coalitions, who in turn represent more than 2,000 local programs and the millions of survivors they serve annually. NNEDV works to make intimate partner violence a national priority, change the way communities respond to it, and strengthen domestic violence advocacy at every level of government. NNEDV provides critical thought leadership on the intersecting needs of survivors, and is creating meaningful and lasting change by partnering with their members, other organizations serving survivors, government agencies, and corporate partners, like NortonLifeLock.

I’m proud to announce that we’ve expanded our partnership to address domestic violence and technology abuse to support survivors’ long-term safety.

NortonLifeLock will provide a $100,000 grant for each of the next three years to support NNEDV’s important initiatives, including Safety Net, Economic Justice, and financial abuse response, and create new Cyber Safety resources for these initiatives to use. In 99% of intimate partner violence cases, there is financial abuse, where abusers steal their partner’s identity, improperly access online accounts, or ruin their credit scores as a way to gain more power and control in the relationship.

Domestic abuse is rapidly changing as we spend more and more time online. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, domestic violence programs have reported an increase in instances of technology-facilitated abuse. Simultaneously, advocates and local programs are relying more on technology to provide virtual services that keep survivors and staff safe. The goal of our increased three-year partnership is expanding and enhancing NNEDV’s capacity to address intimate partner violence, deepening its work at the intersection of technology and financial abuse, and creating more accessible resources while providing the public with a better understanding of tech safety.

There is a critical need to ensure survivors and advocates understand tech-facilitated abuse and its impact, how to identify it, and successful prevention tactics. And, as a global leader in consumer Cyber Safety, NortonLifeLock is uniquely positioned to support these efforts.

Of our expanded partnership, Deborah J. Vagins, NNEDV President and CEO, said, “As more of our lives, including our financial lives, take place online, so do the tactics of abuse and control, which continue to evolve along with technology. The intersections of tech-facilitated abuse and economic abuse can present significant barriers for domestic violence survivors seeking to move from short-term safety to long-term security. NNEDV is honored to partner with NortonLifeLock to work toward improving safety, security, and privacy for survivors and to help survivors access technology in a safe and meaningful way.”

We are proud to support NNEDV and to create safer spaces for victims and survivors. We look forward to providing you with future updates on these efforts.