Finding someone’s home address in D.C. isn’t particularly hard — the city’s elections board, for one, makes sure that information on registered voters easily available to the public. But now, D.C. is taking steps to make private the addresses of victims of certain crimes, as well as people who work for organizations that advocate on their behalf.

As part of a new Address Confidentiality Program created by a bill passed by the D.C. Council last year, victims of domestic abuse, human trafficking, sex crimes and other qualifying offenses will be able to more easily request that their home addresses not be listed in voter registration files, DMV databases and tax records that are available to the public.

People working for reproductive health organizations, domestic violence shelters or groups fighting human trafficking will also be able to make the request.

“When someone is able to leave the relationship and find safety, they want to ensure that they keep it. And so having anonymity and confidentiality of where they are living is critical for their peace of mind, but also physical safety,” says Dawn Dalton, policy director of the D.C. Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “We know that one of the tactics of abusive people is that they will continue to try and exert power over their previous partner.”

Under these programs — which are available to residents of 36 states, including Maryland and Virginia — a qualifying person usually receives a substitute address that can be used for official purposes, with their actual home address kept out of public documents and databases.

The D.C. Board of Elections previously allowed addresses of voters to be made private, but only if a court ordered it. The new program will expand the universe of records covered, and simplify the application process.

Under the new program, a resident will make a request for address confidentiality to the Office of Victim Services and Justice Grants, and provide proof that they suffered a crime or work for a qualifying organization in the form of an affidavit, police report or documentation from a doctor.

Once certified, a person’s address would remain confidential for three years, and could be renewed for two-year terms thereafter.

D.C. is starting to roll out its own program, and last week the Board of Elections finalized rules that will allow qualifying voters to have their voter registration files — which include home addresses — made either fully or partially private.

And unlike in the past, those people won’t have to vote using a special ballot.

“Now that we’re expecting an uptick since the process is getting easier, the preference is to not have them rely on a special ballot but use the live ballot check-in process,” says Rachel Coll, a spokeswoman for the elections board.

A spokesman for Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, the bill’s sponsor, said similar rules will apply to tax records and driver’s license information, though Dalton says those rules are still in the works. When it comes to property records, the law specifies that while a person’s address will not change, their name will be removed for online searches.

While D.C. is late to the game in adopting an address confidentiality program, it will join only California in also offering the privacy option to people who work for reproductive health organizations.

“In my current line of work, safety was actually one of the primary factors that went into me thinking whether I would accept this position,” says Dr. Serina Floyd, medical director of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, D.C. “We know from data that since 1977, there have been 11 murders, 26 attempted murders and thousands of other incidents directed at abortion providers.”

Beyond offering them safety, Dalton thinks the city’s new address confidentiality program will offer domestic violence survivors a chance to participate in elections they may not have had before.

“A lot of folks just have not been able to engage because they were too fearful for being found and their safety,” she says. “We’re excited to have this in place as we’re coming up on the next election season.”