By Amy Trask
Amy Trask is an activist, a mom and passionate public servant who ran for Florida House District 22.
This week, I met with over fifty legislators at the Capitol. With my briefcase tucked underneath my arm, my padfolio stuffed with copies of my bill, and my feet racing amidst a sea of other folks running to their next meetings, I was ready to answer the call, and the many questions about domestic violence.
Ten years ago, my baby woke up and would not stop crying. It was five in the morning, I was juggling life — and the day — as best I could in a spit up covered t-shirt. His father had come in just hours earlier and demanded that I force our little one to be quiet. Of course, my baby couldn’t; he was awake, alive, and ready for the world! He wanted to get out of his crib — his barrier to freedom- and he wanted to get moving now.
I saw things escalating quickly, so I dropped my pan of eggs and raced toward my little. When I grabbed my son and tried to dial 911 on my phone, the realization hit him that I was leaving and all hell broke loose. My phone was thrown and broken, and so was I. I’ll never forget the look in his eyes, the lesson he tried to teach me, or how every part of me shattered – and remained unfixable – for years.
I did move into a DV shelter, where they helped me file an injunction, a police report, held my hand in the emergency room through the SA examination, and even testified on my behalf.
When he disappeared with my son for two and half years, they were steadfast in their resolve to help me find him, supporting me as I contacted every attorney in the area on the Bar’s website, as I studied the entire chapter of statutes pertaining to child custody, and through my subsequent move to Gainesville to start over. I had years of emotional and physical recovery from the injuries I sustained, and started seeing where the holes in our justice system were firsthand in this area of law.
Fast forward, recently, I ran for office, and met so many with similar stories. One woman, let’s call her Jennifer, cried at one of our events because — according to her — “no one tells our stories, no one knows what it’s like, and because of that …. no one changes anything.”
I carry her face, her story, along with my own and others, in those hallways. I also carry my children’s faces with me — because they, too, deserve justice, a future free of violence, a future that protects them should they ever be forced to need it.
So I wrote The HAVEN Act (“Helping Abuse Victims Escape Now”). It’s currently filed with bipartisan support in both chambers (HB-19 and SB-240). I’ve shared coffee, hugs, and tears with many of the legislators I’ve met with and work with now, and I’m encouraged by the conversation we’re having to ensure victims have a chance to become survivors.
HAVEN is a critical and common-sense piece of legislation that has already garnered large support across the state. Statistically, 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men will experience domestic violence. Twenty percent of homicides are attributed to it. Five million kids witness it every year, and one in three of those will become victims themselves. The FDLE’s Uniform Crime Report stated that in 2020, the most recently reported year, Florida saw over 106,615 cases.
First, HAVEN aims to make the definitions of “dating violence” and “domestic violence” statutorily congruent. The latter charge applies when two people live together, share a child, or are blood related. Making the two weigh the same can go a long way for holding abusers accountable and ensuring justice for the victim regardless of co-habitation status.
The second objective of the HAVEN Act is expanding who can apply for the AG’s Domestic Violence Address Confidentiality program, to include victims of dating violence. We also included clarifying language to ensure victims of stalking are also eligible.
Finally, HAVEN creates a coordinating council under the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) that, along with other responsibilities, is responsible for creating a website that allows victims a direct means to discreetly notify police, and see a response, before their abuser knows they’ve been contacted. With real-time data sharing to the police, and added layers of security, this piece could save thousands of lives by eliminating — or directly reducing — exit violence.
Just like many subscription services, a victim would go online to the site and fill out their information, along with a numeric code or a code word/phrase that they could naturally integrate into their speech. Once they press “submit,” that information is then sent to police databases and the site spits out a phone number for victims to save into their phone.
It could be saved as “Dad,” “Aunt Mary,” or whatever else. When they’re ready- meaning, they’ve picked their kids up from school, or their bags are packed, or even without notice at all, when things begin to boil, victims call that number and — if they can’t speak — they dial that pin number, or they use that code word/phrase. That triggers a response from dispatch and police are sent to the location (or wherever the phone is), thus eliminating the need to tell the abuser you’re leaving until safely with police.
This system is unique and critical for a few reasons — if an abuser takes your phone mid-text, you’re texting “Aunt Mary” at a 352-365-XXXX/whatever number; the same is true if they check the call history.
There’s an opportunity to prevent continual escalation if the abuser doesn’t see 911 dialed in. If everyone had one number to text or call, it would present the exact same dangers as calling or texting in to 911; the abuser would likely know the number and react accordingly. This system gives the gift of time and security until police can arrive, so victims don’t have to fight to leave like I did, and so abusers don’t have time to escalate and boil over like mine did.
This bill has been assigned to two sub-committees before going before one big committee, and we’re already underway in committee weeks. I hope that our legislators will see beyond just the words on paper and see in their minds stories like mine, see the faces of those that could be saved by this; imagine the relief of a victim who now knows there IS a way out, and the relief they would feel when they open the door to see safety just beyond the threshold.
By ensuring accountability for dating violence and domestic violence, expanding the Address Confidentiality Program, and creating the site, I’m hopeful that we can begin a new conversation, a new path forward, a new chapter for survivors to embark on. We can make a powerful stand and statement that abuse will not be tolerated, and that we — as a society — are committed to providing safety and support to our neighbors and our constituents. This is a big bold step toward eliminating exit danger from victims of domestic violence, but I know it’s a step that we can take, and if we can save even one life by doing so — and potentially thousands- we have to take it.