We absolutely understand that Emergency Alerts are designed to keep people safe during serious incidents, but when we (Oasis colleagues) all received the wildfire emergency alert on our phones on Friday evening, the first thing to cross our minds was concern for the safety of survivors who have secret phones their abusers don’t know about.
For many survivors, a secret phone is a lifeline. It may be the only safe way to contact support services, speak to loved ones, or plan to leave an abusive relationship. If an emergency alert suddenly starts making a loud noise and vibrating on that device, it could reveal the phone’s existence and put the survivor at greater risk, which is something we, alongside other domestic abuse charities, have repeatedly raised concerns about. Here is a guide we shared last September on how to turn off alerts prior to the UK’s emergency alarm testing.
Not everyone with a hidden phone will know they can turn alerts off, and some people may not have had a safe chance to change their settings before the alert was sent. So to help reduce this risk in future, we’d like to see the Government:
- Work more closely with frontline domestic abuse services when alerts are being considered, if timing allows
- Make safety advice for people with hidden phones easier to find and more visible by sharing regularly across comms channels and across trusted places such as GP surgeries, pharmacies, community groups and support services to spread awareness
- Review the impact of future alerts on survivors and other vulnerable groups
Public safety is important, but so is making sure that safety measures don’t unintentionally put people at risk. Survivors’ experiences must be part of the conversation whenever future Emergency Alerts are planned.
