Yesterday the NY Times reported on a new rule developed by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requiring reporting of detailed information on domestic violence victims who seek HUD-funded services. The new rule took effect on October 1, and applies to more than 300 domestic violence programs and the "more than 40,000 women seek shelter from those HUD-financed programs each year."

In the past, agencies that work with victims of domestic violence were exempted from reporting personal client information in order to protect the safety and confidentiality of the victim. Now all of the reported information (including name, contact information, birth date & social security number) will be placed in a central computer system, which domestic violence victim advocates claim could be used by abusers to gain access to the victim.

Nancy Neylon of the Ohio Domestic Violence Network clearly points out that, "I don't know that any head count is worth a life." Obviously it isn't. The data is being used by HUD "to provide more detailed information about the homeless." The value of including domestic violence victims in a sample statistical pool isn't worth the cost of putting these victims at increased risk. (Not to mention that HUD could allow agencies to report victims' information anonymously).

While Congress encouraged HUD to catalogue client information in order to avoid double counting homeless individuals seeking resources from different agencies, I highly doubt they considered how the information collection could lead to an increased risk of stalking and death for victims of domestic violence or the HUGE disincentive it imposes on victims in need of shelter and services.

Take this example from the NY Times: "One volunteer for a Chicago domestic violence program, Tamme Price, 28, said her former boyfriend repeatedly beat her several years ago, sending her to the hospital twice. He worked for a law enforcement agency and might have had access to the new computerized data base if it had existed then...'I can assure you I would have been much more reluctant to seek the help had this been in place,' Ms. Price said."
I don't blame her. I would be too. Scary, huh?

Click here to write HUD and ask them to stop putting the lives of victims of domestic violence at risk. For more information on this issue check out the amazing fact sheet from the National Network to End Domestic Violence.