Project Summary

Domestic violence shelters within the U.S. frequently employ two policies that have the unintended negative consequence of re-creating the very coercive control survivors are escaping. These include strict secrecy regarding shelter location, and prohibitions on shelter access to all except staff and residents. As a result, many survivors find shelters worse than the abuse itself. In response to these concerns, a small but growing group of shelters have broken from tradition by disclosing their locations and allowing visitors. This study explored the nature and impact of these innovative efforts.

Approach

Using a qualitative descriptive approach, we explored the experiences and perspectives of the 14 shelter directors now working in open shelters across 11 states. Through semi-structured interviews with each participant, we learned about their respective rationales for opening their shelters, policies and procedures that undergird this new approach, its benefits and challenges, and effects on specific survivor subgroups.

Key Findings

• Rationale: Open shelters reflect a contemporary re-visioning of survivors’ safety and relational needs. Secret locations are no longer realistic in an age of social media and location sharing, and they do not sufficiently consider survivors’ core needs for ongoing connection to their social networks.

• Policies and Practices: Directors described a range of innovations to ensure survivors’ safety, engage the local community, and repair or deepen survivors’ relationships with family and friends.

• Challenges: Implementing open shelters can come with challenges, such as receiving buy-in from staff members, funders, and neighbors, or visitors potentially putting survivors’ confidentiality at risk.

• Outcomes for Survivors: Despite these challenges, open shelters appear to dramatically reduce the dynamic of coercive control in shelters, reduce survivors’ shame and isolation, and strengthen their relationships with network members.

• Implications: Findings suggest a new path for domestic violence shelters interested in promoting survivor safety and healing in the context of a web of meaningful relationships.