About Safe at Home

Background

The goal of address confidentiality programs is to help survivors of domestic violence, rape, sexual assault, human trafficking, stalking, or other crimes in their efforts to keep their assailants from finding them. Domestic and sexual violence affects people of all ages, ethnicities and backgrounds.

In 2006, the Missouri State Highway Patrol reported over 40,000 incidents of domestic and sexual violence statewide. Nationally, the U.S. Department of Justice estimates only about half of the incidents of intimate partner violence are even reported to law enforcement.  In response to this epidemic, the secretary of state’s office created an address confidentiality program in Missouri in August 2007.

Since then, other states have joined Missouri in protecting the location of survivors. Approximately 36 states now have some type of address confidentiality program.