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When people flee domestic violence and check into a shelter, it's usually with the understanding that the location will be kept secret to keep survivors safe from abusers. But now, some shelters say there are lots of benefits to disclosing their locations. Aspen Public Radio's Halle Zander reports.
HALLE ZANDER, BYLINE: Last year, in a small rural town near Aspen, Colorado, Elizabeth was trying to leave an abusive relationship. She reached out to a local nonprofit called Response for help. Within 24 hours, they moved her into an apartment in a confidential location. We're not using her full name and having someone else read her comments because she's afraid her abuser could identify and try to contact her.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (As Elizabeth) I can't even express how helpful it was to be able to leave a really bad situation, and without that, I don't know where I'd be right now.
ZANDER: While settling in, nonprofit staff explained the rules. She wasn't allowed to tell anyone, even friends or family, where she was living for her own security. She says that made sense, but...
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (As Elizabeth) When I closed the door, and if anything were to happen, I was really there by myself. Would anyone know if he came and found me, if he broke in?
ZANDER: She didn't always feel safe, and lately, some advocates for domestic abuse victims are questioning whether concealing shelter locations actually is safer.
LISA GOODMAN: In some ways, it's the illusion of safety more than the reality of safety.
ZANDER: Clinical psychologist Lisa Goodman did a study in 2020 that found there's no longer a clear connection between a secret shelter space and increased safety. So when a new shelter in the nearby town of Basalt made its address public, Goodman wasn't surprised.
GOODMAN: Basalt is a good example. It's so small that there's no way they can have a concealed location. And I think that is true all over the country, especially in rural areas.
ZANDER: And it's true in cities, too. Goodman says any taxi driver who drops a family off or a kid who tells a friend where they're staying could compromise these secret locations.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Our first room here is a single room.
ZANDER: The Basalt shelter went public from the start. They hosted an open house with a champagne toast and group tours, drawing dozens of people to see the new building. Executive director Shannon Meyer says the thought of keeping their shelter location a secret was daunting.
SHANNON MEYER: That was one of my sort of mental blocks to being able to do a shelter before this - because soon as we pulled a building permit, people would know what we were doing. Our location would be known.
ZANDER: With demand for affordable shelter growing, Meyer embraced not hiding the new facility's location. Advocates hope that if shelters are prominent and visible, abusers are less likely to stalk or harass victims there.
MEYER: Here we're saying there are people in our community who have experienced abuse, and we have built this beautiful place for them to come to stay. And they deserve a beautiful place.
ZANDER: The shelter also includes safeguards like panic buttons, keypads and a staff apartment on site.
JOANNE BELKNAP: I have mixed feelings about it.
ZANDER: University of Colorado professor Joanne Belknap is still skeptical. Her research shows a disproportionate rate of domestic violence deaths in Colorado's rural areas.
BELKNAP: The most dangerous time is when women leave their abusers, so people knowing where the shelter is is kind of scary to me.
ZANDER: There's no consensus among people running domestic violence shelters on whether publicly acknowledging their locations is actually safer. The authors of the 2020 study advocating more transparency say they're only aware of a handful that have switched away from confidentiality.
For NPR News, I'm Halle Zander in Aspen, Colorado.
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