For resources about confidentiality considerations specific to the pandemic, please see our COVID-19 Pandemic Toolkit.

Why Confidentiality?

For any victim service agency or community organization working with survivors of domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, maintaining confidentiality is paramount to preserving the safety, privacy, and trust of those seeking services. When survivors seek services, they take huge personal risks. If an abuser should discover that a victim is seeking services, the abuse could increase in frequency and severity. There can also be potential societal and personal repercussions from being identified as a victim, such as housing or job discrimination. Even without these concerns, the experiences of any survivor are theirs and they should be in complete control over their privacy and who knows their story. Minimizing the risks to victims is an integral part of providing services to survivors.

Because survivor privacy is so critical to safety, several federal laws include privacy and confidentiality provisions and most states prohibit the disclosure of victim information. Victim service providers in the United States who are receiving federal funds have some of the strongest confidentiality obligations that exist in the country. This toolkit is designed to provide details to providers about those obligations and how to navigate the complexities that arise when collaborating with other agencies and using technologies. 

Who Can Use This Toolkit?

This toolkit was created to assist non-profit victim service organizations and programs, co-located partnerships, coordinated community response teams, and innovative partnerships of victim service providers working to address domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. This toolkit is meant to help providers and agencies understand and follow the confidentiality obligations mandated by the funding they receive through the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA), Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), and related state and federal privacy laws.

Templates

These template forms, policies, and agreements have been created for non-profit victim service agencies, advocates, and partnerships to adapt and use when they provide services to survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. Programs can adapt these templates to meet the needs of their organization; however, please keep in mind that changes should be minimal and the purpose or intent of the template should not be altered. Click here to find the template that best suits your needs.  

RECORDED WEBINARS

  • Fundamentals & Framework: Understanding Confidentiality & Our Obligations - This webinar outlines federal confidentiality obligations and how they connect to survivor-centered advocacy and practice, discusses key considerations related to information disclosure, and addresses the general intersection of confidentiality and technology.

  • Survivor Data: Collection, Retention & Deletion Best Practices - This webinar offers a deep dive into best practices related to victim service programs' confidentiality obligations and their data collection, retention, and deletion processes.

  • Data Breach Notifications & Survivor Confidentiality - Both OVW grantee requirements and state laws require programs to inform survivors of data breaches. However, data breach notifications can pose serious safety and privacy risks to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault and must be thought through carefully. This webinar addresses issues victim service programs must consider as they draft and implement data breach notification policies.

  • Official Demands for Information: Subpoenas, Warrants, Court Orders, Auditors & Monitors - Although the statutory obligations are clear, the real-life scenarios that emerge when someone demands information or when a release is needed can feel challenging and confusing. Here, we talk through common questions and scenarios to help attendees navigate the nuances of releases and releasing information, and answers frequently asked questions about managing requests from attorneys, law enforcement, social service agencies, court systems, and funders.

  • Digital Written Consent - Federal confidentiality guidelines require that when survivors want a victim service program to share information about them, the program must first obtain informed, time-limited, written consent. Remote consent might be needed in a variety of situations. We will focus on what to consider when identifying alternative options through a survivor-centered process, and how to navigate privacy and safety concerns with technology options. En español.

    Read more about Digital Written Consent.

Additional Resources


Federal Laws

+VAWA 2022

First enacted in 1994, the Violence Against Women Act was the first U.S. federal legislation acknowledging domestic violence and sexual assault as crimes, and provided federal resources to encourage community-coordinated responses. VAWA’s provisions were expanded and clarified in 2000, 2005, 2013, and 2022. Starting with VAWA 2005, the legislation began specifying grantees’ obligations to survivor privacy and confidentiality.

+FVPSA 2015

The Family Violence Prevention Services Act (FVPSA), first authorized in 1984, is the only federal funding source dedicated directly to domestic violence shelters and programs.

+Clery Act

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act) is the landmark federal law that requires colleges and universities across the United States to disclose information about crime on and around their campuses.

+HIPAA

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act provides federal protections for personal health information held by covered entities and gives patients an array of rights with respect to that information.

+FERPA

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the Department of Education.