The Domestic Violence Social Vulnerability Dashboard uses data from law enforcement, service providers, and the CDC in map-format to raise awareness of vulnerable areas, enable law enforcement and service providers to re-allocate resources, identify possible service deserts, engage in preventative outreach, and support policy-makers and researchers with data to understand and address this form of gender-based violence.

About

The Dashboard contains two components. First, the Social Vulnerability and Census Data Pyramids Maps provide insight into key demographic and U.S. census data points indicative of vulnerability. Second, a separate but linked Full-Sized Map is provided allowing users to select years beginning in 2019 and overlay multiple domestic violence-related data sources. Users can toggle between both linked components in separate windows. Data from law enforcement includes DV-related calls for service and murders from the Houston Police Department, calls for service from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, and select calls to the Houston Area Women’s Center. Data from CDC is based on its Social Vulnerability Index and is intended to provide societal and demographic context to the zip codes in which data is presented. Information from law enforcement and HAWC has been de-identified to protect confidentiality and is aggregated at the zip code-level. The Dashboard is a resource made available by the Mayor’s Office of Human Trafficking and Domestic Violence in collaboration with the Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council, HAWC, University of Houston’s Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program, and with the support of City of Houston Planning and IT Departments, HPD, and HCSO. Data will be updated every 6 months around April and October each year. The link users receive after registration will automatically update with the latest data.

Download the Toolkit

What’s Included

  • Hyperlink to Access the Dashboard
  • How-To Guide on Using the Dashboard’s Full-Sized Map

Guidelines for Responsible Use

This dashboard contains aggregated but still sensitive information about indicators of domestic violence and users should use it responsibly and with the right intentions by following the guidelines below.

  • The intended audiences of this dashboard are law enforcement and service providers, to inform allocation of resources, and policymakers and researchers, to understand and address societal vulnerabilities contributing to potential victimization.
  • Data presented does not indicate prevalence of domestic violence or whether an instance of domestic violence was confirmed after a call for law enforcement service. Data only reveals indicators of domestic violence vulnerability by zip code. All other uses are at the users’ sole risk.
  • High numbers of calls and/or murders within a zip code does not necessarily mean high rates of domestic violence there. Conversely, low numbers within a different zip code does not necessarily mean low rates. The data presents the incidents reported and does not capture those incidents not reported to either law enforcement and/or a service provider.
  • Past levels of DV-related calls and/or murders in a given zip code do not predict future levels of calls and/or murders, as vulnerabilities are dynamic and change over time.
  • The disposition of each call and cause of murder varies by case and can include instances of elder abuse, child abuse, and/or other forms of familial violence, as well as intimate partner violence. Not all calls for service or murders cited here resulted from an instance of intimate partner violence.
  • All data has been de-identified, is not searchable by address, and can only be read at the zip-code level. Users should not infer that data at the zip code level reveals something about a specific address within that zip code.
  • Users should read DV-related data in relation to the CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index to understand the relationship between potential victimization and existing societal vulnerabilities. Keep in mind that victimization can and does occur in affluent areas and may go unreported or less reported because victims have access to more resources to aid themselves.