Introduction

The Chayn Online Safety guide is designed to support survivors of digital harm—especially those who may be feeling overwhelmed, confused about what’s happening, or unsure of where to turn. It focuses on five of the most common types of digital abuse: scams, online harassment, image-based abuse, nonconsensual location-tracking, someone accessing your accounts without your consent, and also other complex harms that don’t always fit neatly into one category.

About this guide

How it could help

Experiencing digital abuse can be worrying, frightening, and confusing. We can feel ashamed or guilty, even though we haven’t done anything wrong. We may even feel alone and isolated. This guide aims to clearly name and explain what might be happening in different situations, and provide simple actions we can take to protect ourselves or report abuse if it’s safe to do so.

Who it’s for

The guide was created for people navigating digital abuse in all its forms. It’s also for the advocates, friends, and professionals who support them. Whether someone is in crisis, building a safety plan, or just beginning to question something that feels off, the guide offers calm, practical support in clear, accessible language that centres survivor autonomy.

Trauma-informed language is at the heart of this guide. That means:

• No technical jargon unless it’s necessary—and when it is, it’s explained clearly.
• No second-guessing survivors. We focus on harm as it is experienced by the survivor, not on whether the harm breaks any laws.
• No blame. Digital abuse is never the survivor’s fault. It’s okay to need or want support at any stage.

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Have feedback?

If you feel able then we’d love to hear from you, whatever your thoughts. You’ll find a general feedback option at the bottom of every page, and we also provide the opportunity for more detailed feedback at the end of this guide here.

How you can use this guide

This guide covers different types of digital abuse, but we understand that only specific parts are likely to be relevant for each person. Our aim has been to design it so you can get to the information you need, when you need it. You can do that via the navigation options below, or you can use our What do you need right now? selector.

Finding your way around

Each section of the guide is on a separate page, and there are a number of ways you can find your way around:

Special terms and phrases

Throughout this guide, you’ll notice words and phrases underlined like this. These are terms that may be unfamiliar—when you tap/click on them, you’ll see a pop-up with a brief explanation, and sometimes a link for more information.