Counselors in women's shelters, counseling, and intervention centers gain access to a wealth of sensitive information from the lives of women affected by violence—from intimate experiences to financial and professional details to health insights.
Protecting this data from unauthorized access is a key component of violence protection. Furthermore, employee data also requires special protection, as they too can become a target for the victims' violent environment. The fact that the use of the internet, computer networks, mobile phones, netbooks, and social media is making data transmission channels increasingly complex and thus more difficult to monitor presents new challenges for support work for women affected by violence.
Treat data sensitively and remain able to act
At the same time, effective cooperation with other agencies in the support system repeatedly requires the sharing of information: the police or youth welfare office request data for risk assessment and coordination of their work, social security providers request information on the support services provided, etc. This often requires women's shelters, women's advice centers, and intervention centers to perform a special balancing act: they must handle information sensitively and in accordance with the law while simultaneously maintaining their ability to act.
To ensure the safety of women affected by violence as well as that of the support system's employees, it is essential to address the issue of careful data handling. The current FHK legal information is intended to support employees and providers in handling data both safely and sensibly. It explains basic terms and concepts of data protection, provides helpful practical recommendations, and answers current questions related to the support system.
The FHK legal information on the GDPR as a brochure is unfortunately currently out of stock.
Quality recommendations
Current women's shelter statistics
