Enable GPS Location Sharing in a Dangerous Relationship

Abductions carried out by a current or former partner rarely announce themselves in advance — they happen suddenly, at home, and with enough force that the victim has no opportunity to call for help before being taken. In a June 2026 incident in Diego Martin, a 21-year-old woman was forced into a vehicle by a man she was in a relationship with at approximately 7:05 p.m. She was unable to contact anyone during the abduction. What led to her rescue was GPS tracking data from her vehicle, which allowed a Traffic Warden to alert police and direct officers to the location north of Las Cuevas — where she was found injured but alive. Without that location data, there would have been no signal for police to act on. In a dangerous relationship, real-time location sharing is not a convenience feature — it is a rescue mechanism that functions precisely when calling for help is impossible.

Steps to follow:

• Share your real-time location with at least one trusted contact — a parent, sibling, or close friend — using a phone’s built-in location sharing or a dedicated safety app; this should be active continuously, not only when you feel at risk.
• Tell that trusted contact under what circumstances they should be alarmed by your location: if you stop moving unexpectedly, deviate from your normal route home, or your location stops updating, that is a signal to call police immediately.
• If your vehicle has a factory GPS system or a tracking device fitted by an insurer, ensure at least one trusted person knows how to access your location through it and has the account credentials stored securely off your phone.
• Keep a fully charged phone on your person when at home — not on a counter or in another room — so that if you are forced to leave suddenly you have it with you; an abductor acting quickly will not always search for a phone before driving off.
• If you are in a relationship where you feel controlled or threatened, disclose this to at least one person outside your household: a neighbour, a coworker, or a family member who can raise the alarm faster than you may be able to.
• If you are taken against your will and are in a moving vehicle, do not fight the driver at speed; preserve your phone, stay calm, and if you can do so safely, send your location to a contact or call 999 and leave the line open without speaking.