People experiencing gender-based violence may receive threats or harassment via technology. Taking a video screen recording of the abusive messages received on your phone is one way to document evidence of what’s happening.

Depending on what model of phone you’re using, the steps might look a little different. But, they should be roughly similar from phone to phone.

Step 1

Open Settings, select “control centre,” and then “customize controls.”

Step 2

Tap the green “plus” sign next to screen recording to add screen recording to your control setting. [This essentially adds the option to screen record to your toolkit.]

Step 3

Now, position whatever it is that you want to save on your screen.

Step 4

To open the control centre, tap the control centre icon on your screen. Depending on your phone, you might also open the control centre by swiping up or down from the top or bottom of the screen. There will be a three second countdown before recording starts, so be sure to wait the full three seconds before moving through the content you want to save. A red timer at the top of the screen lets you know the recording is in progress.

Step 5

When you are ready to stop recording, tap the red status bar at the top of the screen, and then tap stop.

Step 6

[On both Android and iPhones], Once you take the video recording on your screen, it is saved to your Camera or Gallery roll. You can keep the recording as a video on your phone or you can email or message the screen recording to yourself or a friend.

Before you document evidence, always think through potential safety risks. If someone has access to the photos and videos on your smartphone, they might know that you are preserving evidence. If you think this is a safety issue, use a secondary camera to take a video of the messages on your phone.

It’s possible to use technology safely. You don’t have to give up your devices or online presence if tech-facilitated violence is happening to you. It is not your fault. You are not alone. Visit BCSTH.ca to find a safe confidential support service in your community.