Safe House and Shelter Training Program

Overview

When domestic violence victims escape their abusers, they often turn to safe houses and shelters (SHASs). Unfortunately, new forms of technology have enabled abusers and made it more difficult for victims to successfully escape.

The Safe House and Shelter (SHAS) Program by Operation Safe Escape helps victims of domestic violence and related crimes escape abusive relationships by providing SHAS staff with computer, physical, operations, and CPTED security training and services at no cost. Since 2016, through the SHAS Program, Operation Safe Escape has helped over 3,000 individuals successfully escape their abusers

The Challenge

According to the CDC’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, in the U.S., over 1 in 3 (43.6 million) women and about 1 in 3 (37.3 million) men experience contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner during their lifetime.¹

Growing evidence suggests that during the COVID-19 pandemic, domestic violence has become more common and often more severe. Stay-at-home orders, limited mobility, and increased financial/social distress have exacerbated domestic violence cases. The United Nations has referred to the global rise in domestic violence as the “shadow pandemic” within the COVID-19 health crisis.²

Moreover, new technology has enabled abusers. Historically, abusers may have monitored a victim by checking a car’s mileage or manipulating neighbors into reporting a victim’s activities; today, abusers have access to a plethora of legal location tracking apps and illegal stalkerware that severely limit a victim’s freedom of movement. Abusers are also able to leverage social media platforms to teach, support, and share how to best leverage technology against a victim’s will. Finally, advances in tracking devices and increasingly deceptive cybersecurity attacks pose growing security risks to the victims and SHAS staff /clients.

One of the most dangerous moments a domestic violence victim faces is when they attempt to flee an abuser. Victims often turn to SHASs for advice and support. SHASs are typically staffed by non-security specialists, such as retired healthcare workers, social workers, and local concerned citizens. While the staffers provide critical services to victims, they generally lack security awareness training to combat the growing threat posed by technology-equipped abusers. Without proper security support, victims may be threatened into returning to the abusive relationship. In fact, as quoted in Time Magazine, according Cassie Mecklenberg, Executive Director of the domestic violence support group Sheltering Wings, “on average, survivors return to the abusive relationship seven times before they leave for good.”³ The SHAS Program works to address the security deficits that may threaten a successful escape.

Operation Safe Escape leverages its 100+ professional security volunteers to provide critical security expertise at no cost.

About the Intervention

The SHAS Program focuses on teaching and providing critical security expertise at no cost. Like a customer service model, the SHAS Program’s services are tailored to an organization’s needs. Services include computer, physical, operations, and CPTED security. Below are three examples of the SHAS Program security support services:

• Computer Security: With limited resources and cybersecurity expertise, several SHASs have chosen to build their websites and communication channels through free or inexpensive services that can easily be infiltrated or attacked. To protect clients and staff, the SHAS Program works with organizations to set up secure networks, websites, and communication channels and teach staff how to practice computer security.
• Physical Security: The SHAS Program has helped organizations secure their technical hardware such as wiring closets and routers from attack. They’ve also helped sweep SHAS facilities to remove technical hardware devices planted by abusers such as listening, monitoring, and tracking devices.
• Digital Evidence Collection and Protection: In many cases, SHAS employees become aware of digital evidence that would help to obtain a restraining order and the prosecution of an abuser. The SHAS Program helps staffers learn how to handle and protect digital evidence properly.

Additionally, in 2019, Operation Safe Escape hosted the 2019 Domestic Violence Safety and Security Conference. The conference taught approximately 250 SHAS staff attendees relevant security issues. Through this conference, a shelter staff attendee finally cracked a mystery regarding stalkerware used on a client that the police had not solved for years.

It is unrealistic to expect overworked retired healthcare professionals, social workers, and other concerned citizens who serve as SHAS staff to also be cyber, physical, and operation security experts. Moreover, these under-resourced organizations should not be expected to pay large sums of money to security companies for training and support. And yet, as abusers become more tech-savvy, a security background becomes increasingly necessary to help domestic violence victims escape. That’s why Operation Safe Escape leverages its 100+ thoroughly vetted security professional pro-bono volunteers to provide critical security expertise at no cost. This allows SHASs to focus their limited resources

towards other pressing needs such as basic resources, healthcare, re-housing, and helping victims establish financial independence.

The SHAS Program is just 1 of 4 initiatives supported by Operation Safe Escape. Altogether, the four initiatives (1) educate victims, SHAS staff, law enforcement, and industry (2) help victims escape their abusers, and (3) empower survivors with the technical support they may need.

Impact & Future Plans

The SHAS Program has 12 enduring SHAS partnerships and serves many more SHASs on an as-needed basis across the United States and internationally in Canada, Australia, Ghana, and elsewhere.

Since launching in 2016, Operation Safe Escape has helped over 3,000 individuals successfully leave an abuser. They have distributed nearly 1,000 TAILS (a privacy software that allows for encrypted communication) to help victims who do not have access to secure networks.

Operation Safe Escape is continuing to scale the SHAS Program. There is currently minimal information sharing between shelters and safe houses. Opening regional communication channels would be critical to sharing threat intelligence information and best practices as a victim attempts to escape their abuser. Consequently, Operation Safe Escape is currently working on a formal information sharing and collaboration platform for shelters and safe houses all over the country.

Additionally, Operation Safe Escape is creating a comprehensive security guide tailored for domestic violence safe houses and shelters.