November is domestic or family violence awareness month, a scourge that claims hundreds of lives each year in New York.
Jen is one of thousands of New Yorkers who have experienced stalking and domestic violence. She asked us to hide her identity, but she bravely told us about a state program that, she says, saved her life after years of living in fear for herself and her children.
Jen was a victim of domestic violence and a beneficiary of the Home Confidentiality Program:
“I felt heard. I felt like my concerns were validated and I felt for the first time that I could take a step forward, because if your primary need to feel safe is not met, you do not have the foundation to build the other aspects of your life.”
The Home Confidentiality Program is available to victims of domestic violence, and other state residents who plan to move to a new home for safety reasons.
It may also be if there is a person who is at risk of falling into human trafficking, or who has a protection problem between incidents of sexual abuse.
For enrollees and those living at home, all first-class and certified mail, as well as prescription medications delivered to a substitute address, are forwarded to their actual address, excluding packages. Information and applications are available in Spanish and twelve other languages for men and women.
“We are offering the service to anyone who needs it and it gives this person an opportunity to create a new life,” says Robert Rodríguez, Secretary of State of New York.
This support and other resources from organizations like Safe Horizon apply to everyone who lives in New York, regardless of their immigration status, as Jennifer Hughes explained to us, who went from being a victim of her Honduran ex-husband to being a telephone operator for the non-profit organization. assisting thousands of victims find additional housing and services.
“We can assist in immigration matters, we have offices in family court, criminal court and we also have representatives in every precinct in the five boroughs of New York that can assist these people who want to get out of this situation,” says Jennifer Hughes, today became a Safe Horizon Case Manager.
Since 2012, the Home Confidentiality Program has assisted 7,000 people – victims of domestic violence – across the state, of which 4,000 continue to receive support.
