At the centre of the model is relational safety, the belief that belonging, trust, human connection, and supportive communities act as protective infrastructure against exploitation, manipulation, isolation, and victimisation.

Through trauma-informed education, safeguarding initiatives, policy engagement, ethical AI advocacy, standards participation, and community prevention activities, AFK works upstream to strengthen safer digital participation, child protection, and community resilience before harm escalates into crisis.

Prevention before harm escalates.

Unsafe by Design is AFK’s prevention-focused initiative addressing the growing intersection between digital environments, technology-facilitated harm, coercive control, exploitation, and community safety.

Developed following international advocacy engagement in Geneva and ongoing United Nations participation, the initiative connects global digital safety conversations with practical local prevention, safeguarding, and education.

Unsafe by Design recognises that many forms of digital harm are not isolated incidents. They are often shaped or amplified by systems that were not designed with sufficient consideration for safety, trauma, vulnerability, or human wellbeing.

The framework connects local community prevention with broader national and international conversations surrounding:

• digital safety 
• ethical AI 
• child safeguarding 
• coercive control 
• technology-facilitated gender-based violence 
• online exploitation 
• emotional wellbeing 
• human rights and emerging technology 

Unsafe by Design was developed after recognising a growing gap between the speed of technological development and the safeguards needed to protect vulnerable communities from harm.

Through engagement in international forums connected to human rights, digital governance, ethical AI, and community safety, AFK identified a recurring pattern, many systems addressed harm only after exploitation, coercion, abuse, or emotional distress had already occurred.

The initiative was intentionally named Unsafe by Design to encourage earlier prevention conversations.

While Safety by Design frameworks are important, AFK believes prevention must move further upstream by examining how design choices, incentives, algorithms, automation, moderation systems, and governance gaps can unintentionally enable harm before safeguards are implemented.

Unsafe by Design focuses on identifying and reducing those vulnerabilities earlier.

Unsafe by Design recognises that vulnerability rarely exists in isolation.

Social isolation, coercion, language barriers, digital exclusion, trauma, financial pressure, discrimination, and unsafe online environments can compound one another, increasing the likelihood of exploitation, emotional distress, and technology-facilitated harm.

In many cases, harm becomes visible late. Vulnerability becomes visible much earlier.

AFK’s prevention approach is informed by the understanding that relational safety, trust, belonging, and community connection are critical protective factors in digital safety and violence prevention.

When people feel connected, informed, and supported, they are more likely to:

• recognise unsafe behaviours earlier 
• seek help safely 
• question manipulative or coercive dynamics 
• access support pathways 
• participate in prevention conversations 

Unsafe by Design therefore approaches digital safety not only as a technical issue, but as a social, emotional, community, and systems issue.

This includes recognising that prevention efforts are most effective when communities themselves help shape the knowledge, language, and safeguarding approaches designed to support them.

Unsafe by Design operates across multiple interconnected layers of prevention and community safety.

AFK delivers workshops and community education initiatives designed to strengthen digital literacy, emotional wellbeing, safeguarding awareness, and safer online participation.

These workshops support:

• children and young people 
• carers and families 
• educators and community groups 
• women and vulnerable communities 
• regional and rural participants 

Topics include:

• digital safety 
• online exploitation 
• coercive digital behaviours 
• emotional impacts of unsafe online environments 
• emerging AI-related harms 
• resilience and healthy technology use 

This work helps communities recognise risks earlier and strengthen prevention before harm escalates.

Unsafe by Design also contributes to broader discussions around prevention, accountability, and ethical technology governance.

Since 2023, AFK’s advocacy has included participation in national and international discussions connected to:

• Commission on the Status of Women 
• Commission on the Status of Women 
• United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific 
• World Intellectual Property Organisation 
• ethical AI and digital governance forums 

This advocacy focuses on translating emerging global risks into practical prevention conversations relevant to Australian communities.

Alt-TAB is an Unsafe by Design initiative developed to encourage earlier consideration of safety, ethics, human rights, and community impact in technology and system development.

The framework helps organisations, businesses, community groups, and emerging technology users think more critically about:

• unintended harms 
• vulnerable users 
• coercion and exploitation risks 
• safeguarding 
• accessibility 
• emotional and social impacts 
• ethical AI use 
• human rights considerations 

Alt-TAB reflects AFK’s belief that prevention should begin before systems are deployed, not only after harm occurs.

Unsafe by Design also recognises that digital safety is deeply connected to belonging, emotional wellbeing, and social connection.

AFK’s broader work includes:

• trauma-informed approaches 
• support spaces for carers and communities 
• offline connection initiatives 
• community resilience building 
• safer and more inclusive participation 
• Advocacy in relational safety

This reflects our belief that prevention is not only technical. It is social, emotional, and community-driven.

Unsafe by Design translates emerging international discussions around:

• AI governance 
• digital safety 
• technology-facilitated abuse 
• online exploitation 
• human rights 
• safeguarding 

into practical prevention conversations relevant to Australian communities.

The initiative helps connect global risks with:

• local education 
• community awareness 
• safeguarding discussions 
• regional prevention 
• school engagement 
• parent and carer support 

AFK believes many harms discussed internationally are already affecting communities locally, particularly women, children, carers, neurodivergent individuals, and regional communities.

Unsafe by Design combines advocacy, education, safeguarding, and prevention-focused engagement to help communities better recognise and respond to emerging digital harms.

The initiative operates across multiple levels of prevention, connecting international discussions around ethical technology and online safety with practical community-based education and awareness.

This includes:

• digital safety workshops for children, carers, educators, and community groups 
• presentations and discussions on emerging online harms, AI-enabled abuse, and technology-facilitated violence 
• trauma-informed community conversations focused on emotional wellbeing and safer digital participation 
• advocacy and participation in national and international forums relating to ethical technology, human rights, and prevention 
• collaboration with organisations across digital safety, criminology, family violence prevention, governance, and safeguarding sectors 
• development of upstream prevention frameworks, including the Alt-TAB initiative 
• awareness raising relating to coercive digital behaviours, online exploitation, scams, manipulation, and unsafe platform design 
• support for stronger Safety by Design and prevention-focused approaches across technology systems 

Unsafe by Design is designed to operate as both a community prevention initiative and a broader systems advocacy framework.

Examples of Unsafe by Design activities include:

• facilitating international discussions on AI harm, digital safety, and child safeguarding 
• delivering community workshops focused on emotional wellbeing and online safety 
• contributing to discussions relating to technology-facilitated gender-based violence and ethical AI 
• engaging with educators, carers, and community leaders on emerging digital risks 
• supporting conversations around coercive control and manipulation in digital environments 
• advocating for stronger upstream safeguards and prevention-focused technology design 
• developing Alt-TAB, an upstream ethical technology reflection framework designed to encourage earlier consideration of safety and human rights impacts

Unsafe by Design also contributes to broader conversations around prevention methodology, safeguarding, and the future design of ethical technology systems.

AFK Founder Sarah Barnbrook contributes to multidisciplinary work examining how technology-facilitated abuse, AI governance, relational safety, and community vulnerability intersect in real-world prevention contexts.

This includes collaboration connected to:

• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers standards and governance activities 
• community co-design approaches to AI literacy and family violence prevention 
• technology-facilitated abuse prevention research 
• upstream safeguarding and prevention frameworks 

A key focus of this work is the recognition that vulnerability rarely exists in isolation.

Unsafe by Design recognises that vulnerabilities often:

• cluster 
• compound 
• amplify one another 
• become more difficult to detect once harm escalates 

The framework therefore focuses on identifying vulnerability earlier through:

• trusted relationships 
• safeguarding awareness 
• relational safety 
• community engagement 
• culturally safe prevention approaches 
• systems thinking 

This work reinforces AFK’s belief that digital safety cannot be understood solely as a technical issue.

Safety is also relational, social, emotional, and structural.

Meaningful prevention requires communities, systems, technologies, and governance approaches that recognise these intersecting realities before harm becomes crisis.

Many forms of technology-facilitated harm are addressed only after significant emotional distress, exploitation, coercion, or community harm has already occurred.

Unsafe by Design focuses on prevention earlier in the cycle by:

• strengthening awareness 
• reducing vulnerability 
• improving safeguarding 
• supporting safer digital behaviours 
• encouraging ethical technology design 
• helping communities recognise emerging risks sooner 

AFK believes prevention should not rely solely on individual resilience or reactive moderation after harm occurs.

Safer digital futures require earlier intervention, stronger safeguards, informed communities, and systems designed with human wellbeing in mind from the beginning.

Many modern forms of exploitation, coercion, grooming, scams, and technology-facilitated abuse now emerge through digital systems before communities or authorities recognise the warning signs.

Unsafe by Design was developed to help move prevention upstream by identifying vulnerabilities earlier, strengthening safeguarding awareness, improving systems accountability, and reducing vulnerability before harm escalates into victimisation or crisis. 

Unsafe by Design engages with stakeholders across:

• education 
• community services 
• digital safety 
• governance 
• violence prevention 
• human rights 
• ethical technology 
• criminology 
• cybersecurity 
• women’s safety and advocacy sectors 

This cross-sector approach helps connect emerging digital risks with practical prevention and safeguarding responses at the community level.