Abuse With a Glow Up: How Everyday Technology Has Become the New Weapon of Control

About this episode

⚠️ Trigger warning: This episode contains references to domestic abuse, coercive control, and family violence.

What if the most dangerous weapon in a domestic abuser's hands isn't a fist — but your bank account?

In this episode, Yas London sits down with Catherine Fitzpatrick, CEO of Flequity Ventures and Australia's leading expert on financial abuse and technology-facilitated domestic violence. Catherine spent nearly a decade as a senior bank executive before uncovering a disturbing pattern: everyday products — bank accounts, insurance policies, smart devices, utility bills — being weaponised as tools of coercive control.

In this conversation, you'll learn:

— How bank transfer descriptions are being used as weapons of harassment and surveillance

— Why 51% of Australians will experience technology-facilitated abuse in their lifetime

— What Safety By Design means — and why most companies still aren't doing it

— How AI is both the problem and the solution in financial abuse detection

— What you can do right now, whether you're a business leader or an individual

If something feels off in your relationship with money or technology, this episode will give you language, clarity, and a clear next step.

Catherine Fitzpatrick | Flequity Ventures: https://flequity.au

Learn about Design to Disrupt: https://designedtodisrupt.au

Respect & Protect Campaign (check if your company has signed up):
https://respectandprotect.au/

1800RESPECT (National domestic violence support line): 1800 737 732 | www.1800respect.org.au

Connect with Yas London:

Website: yasminlondon.com

Instagram: @_yaslondon_

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/yasminlondon

"What we make visible shapes what others believe is possible."