A digital attack is never just a technical incident. It often comes with psychological distress, leads to burnout, and opens up new threats to physical safety that require expert support. At the same time, individuals coping with harassment or online violence often need more than mental health support; they need immediate technical assistance to secure their digital presence and stay safe.
Activists, nonprofit organizations, human rights defenders, independent journalists, and other at-risk communities may lack sufficient access to the resources and expertise they need to address these intertwined problems. By joining forces, Access Now’s Digital Security Helpline and the nonprofit organization Vita Activa aim to meet that need, ensuring that civil society members receive holistic, rapid, and tailored support.
Vita Activa, an Access Now grantee, operates a helpline for journalists, activists, human rights defenders, women, and LGBTQ+ people who face stress, trauma, burnout, digital violence, or crises arising from their work and activism. Our Digital Security Helpline offers 24/7, free-of-charge technical assistance on digital security for members of civil society, with a specific mandate to assist activists, researchers, media organizations, journalists, bloggers, and human rights defenders.
Our new framework for collaboration will allow the two organizations to offer:
- Holistic case referrals: With explicit consent from individuals seeking help, our organizations will streamline referrals to provide complementary support. A tech query at Vita Activa will seamlessly connect with the technical expertise of the Digital Security Helpline, while individuals contacting Access Now who need mental health assistance, peer support, or psychological first aid will be connected directly to Vita Activa.
- Mutual collaboration to sustain the ecosystem of support for civil society: Our organizations already collaborate, offering one another mutual support through information sharing, documentation, joint efforts to develop sustainable solutions for our respective communities, and more. Our new framework formalizes this work and allows both teams to explore further avenues for collaboration.
How to reach out for support
If you or your organization are facing digital attacks, we encourage you to learn more about our respective services and reach out to either of our organizations depending on the type of support you need:
- Experiencing online violence or burnout? Need psychological first aid? If you meet the criteria for support, contact Vita Activa for free and confidential assistance in in Spanish, Portuguese, English, and Arabic, at support @ vita-activa.org (Spanish) and support @ vita-activa.org (English) or +56 9 3291 9018 (WhatsApp, Signal).
- Facing a digital attack or incident that threatens your digital security? Need advice to prevent attacks or secure your online presence? If your request fits within our mandate, contact the Digital Security Helpline, which provides direct technical assistance and support in nine languages.
As civil society continues to face mounting challenges to basic rights and freedoms worldwide, it is crucial to ensure that those most at risk have continuous holistic support and protection, especially given the drastic fund reductions that have further exposed civil society to security vulnerabilities. We are proud to work with Vita Activia on creative, collaborative, and flexible approaches to defending those who defend our rights.