The HAVEN Act — protecting victims when every second counts

Every day, I sit with victims who are trying to do the hardest thing imaginable – get to safety after experiencing violent crime. As the Executive Director and Founder of AngelWingz Family Crisis & Intervention Center in Tallahassee, and a member of Crime Survivors Speak, my work places me alongside people escaping domestic violence, dating violence, and human trafficking.

I founded AngelWingz after my own family was forever changed by domestic violence. I know personally and professionally what happens when a call for help comes too late, or when someone has nowhere safe to turn. Growing up in a home marked by domestic violence from the age of five to seventeen ignited my lifelong passion to help women break free from the devastating cycles of domestic violence and human trafficking. The tragedy and the fear are paralyzing for the victim due to not knowing whether to leave or stay, especially when children are involved.

Florida continues to see domestic violence claim lives each year. In fact, the Florida Department of Children and Families’ Domestic Violence Annual Reports documents domestic violence-related homicides annually — a stark reminder that violence within intimate relationships remains a serious public safety issue in our state. In 2021, domestic violence-related homicides hovered around 220 per year, comprising 20% of Florida’s homicides statewide, and more than 100,000 people were victimized in domestic violence incidents.

These numbers are unacceptable.

And behind these numbers are real people and families who deserve to be safe. That is why the bipartisan companion bills, SB 296 and HB 269, the Helping Abuse Victims Escape Now (HAVEN) Act, are so important. This legislation would take critical steps toward establishing statewide infrastructure to improve emergency response for victims of violence while strengthening confidentiality that protects them. It recognizes that modern problems require modern tools.

The bill would expand Florida’s Address Confidentiality Program, so victims of dating violence receive the same protection as domestic violence survivors. Victims would be able to keep their personal addresses safe from their abusers through an application process administered by the Attorney General.

For survivors trying to rebuild their lives, confidentiality is not about convenience. It is about survival.

The bill also requires relevant telecommunications and public safety stakeholders to undertake a feasibility study toward a centralized emergency website integrated with real-time law enforcement response. Features would include a unique emergency number for victims, a discreet alert code that sends the authorities the survivors’ location and triggers immediate dispatch. These are practical tools designed for the realities survivors face. In many cases, a visible phone call or an obvious request for help could escalate violence.

These are not theoretical ideas to me. I have held the hands of women who were terrified to make a phone call because they believed it could cost them their lives. I have worked with survivors who needed to flee immediately but did not know who to call or how to protect their location.

The HAVEN Act offers concrete, life-saving solutions that meet those exact needs.

And the research supports the solutions put forth in these bills. Research consistently shows that survivors face heightened danger during periods of separation or crisis. That means the moment someone reaches out for help may also be the moment they are most at risk. Too often, the systems meant to protect them are fragmented, slow, or do not keep survivors’ addresses confidential. Lapses in confidentiality can mean a domestic or dating violence victim’s life.

This legislation reflects bipartisan, survivor-centered thinking. Communities, law enforcement organizations, and advocacy groups across Florida support it because they recognize what is at stake. The goal is simple and urgent. Save lives, protect families, and ensure that more people get help before it is too late.

Victims should not have to navigate a maze in the moment they are fighting to survive and get to safety. With the Legislature’s passage of the HAVEN Act — including unanimous passage in the Florida House on Tuesday, March 10 — Florida now has the opportunity to build a coordinated system that can move as fast as the danger our survivors are trying to escape.

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Wendy Strickland-Dawson is a Tallahassee Chapter Member for Crime Survivors Speak, a network of 200,000 crime victims across the country and 15,000 in Florida.