# The Calling Kettle: Can Smart Technology Tackle Domestic Abuse? | The Social Housing Round Table

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-social-housing-round-table-7157271/the-calling-kettle-can-smart-technology-tackle-domestic-abuse-the-social-housing-round-table
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-social-housing-round-table-7157271/the-calling-kettle-can-smart-technology-tackle-domestic-abuse-the-social-housing-round-table.md
Podcast: [The Social Housing Round Table](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-social-housing-round-table-7157271)
Published: 2026-03-24T16:21:25+00:00
Episode link: https://theshrt.podbean.com/e/the-calling-kettle-can-smart-technology-tackle-domestic-abuse-the-social-housing-round-table/
Audio file: https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/vzt27f68wa4f9jf3/240326_RT_Audio7ri24.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-social-housing-round-table-7157271/episodes/the-calling-kettle-can-smart-technology-tackle-domestic-abuse-the-social-housing-round-table
Duration seconds: 3520

## Resource

Trigger warning: this session includes detailed personal testimony of domestic abuse and coercive control. What do you do when you can't reach for your phone? When someone has taken it, or when reaching for it would put you in more danger than staying silent? That was the question Katy Longhurst asked herself. Not as a thought experiment — but living through years of coercive control, surveillance, stalking, and violence at the hands of an ex-partner who had the training, the resources, and the determination to make sure no one could help her. Her panic alarm was eventually disconnected. The police logged 169 separate incidents, each handled in isolation, none of them connecting the full picture. So she built something herself. Using her background in smart buildings and IoT, she created AskJoan — a cloud-based system that detects unusual power surges from everyday household appliances. In this conversation, Katy joins Matt Baird at the Social Housing Round Table to share her full story — and to explore what it means for the housing sector, for local authorities, and for the thousands of people living in social housing who may be experiencing domestic abuse right now without anyone knowing. This session covers: The realities of coercive control and how it escalates long before it becomes visible How AskJoan works and what it requires to be deployed The funding and commissioning landscape, and why the biggest barrier isn't the technology What housing providers and local authorities can do, practically, to support victims Why detection and awareness must come before the crisis point The relationship between the sector, the police, and the tools available Also joining the conversation: Evie, Domestic Abuse and Exploitation Research Associate at AskJoan, and Lucy Burton, B…

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## Transcript

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