Safety Resources for Women in Public Life
Carly Koppes, the elected clerk and recorder in Weld County, Colorado, changed her hours and her route to work when threats reached her, and she’s still in office. Her advice: talk honestly with your family before you run, so everyone understands what the job might ask of them.
In the She Should Run community, we hear some version of this all the time: “I care, but I’m scared.” If that’s you, you’re not overreacting. Threats and harassment aimed at people in public office have grown, and women get more of it. That’s real. So is this: women are serving on school boards, city councils, and county commissions right now, and many have taken practical steps to protect themselves and their families.
Below is a working list of tools women in office can use: how to lock down your information online, what your state may allow, how to prepare for public meetings, and what to do if something happens. It’s written for you whether you’re just thinking about running, already on the ballot, or serving now.
What the research shows
Threats against people in local office are common, and women are targeted in particular ways. A Brennan Center survey found that 18% of local officeholders had been threatened, and that women in office were three to four times as likely as men to face abuse aimed at their gender.
In the first quarter of 2026, 54% of local officials told Princeton’s Bridging Divides Initiative and CivicPulse they’d faced some form of hostility in the past three months. It’s changing how people do the job, too: 82% of women and 72% of men said they were less likely to do at least one key part of it, like taking on a controversial issue or running for higher office.
If you’re wondering where to focus, a 2024 National League of Cities survey offers a clue. Among local officials who’d been harassed, 89% said it happened on social media and 84% at public meetings.
For women headed to a state legislature, some of the risk comes from inside the building. The National Women’s Defense League, a nonpartisan group, reports that one in three state lawmakers has witnessed or experienced sexual harassment, and 40% say they didn’t receive anti-harassment training. Most legislatures still don’t have clear ways to report it or hold people accountable.
This reflects how public life works right now, not the women stepping into it. Officials and researchers point to steps that help: protecting your personal information online, getting de-escalation training, and getting to know local law enforcement before you need them.
Lock down what’s online
It’s much easier to protect your personal information before you’re a public figure than after. Here’s where to start.
Search for yourself first.
Google’s free Results about you tool shows whether your home address, phone number, or email appears in search results and lets you request removal. It hides results from Google Search but doesn’t delete the original pages, so pair it with the next steps.
Clear your data from people search sites.
These sites publish home addresses and phone numbers for anyone to find. When Consumer Reports tested paid removal services, opting out yourself worked better than the paid services overall.
Follow a step by step plan.
PEN America’s guide to protecting yourself from doxing, part of its Online Harassment Field Manual, walks you through locking down accounts and removing your information from data brokers.
Know what your state allows
Many first-time candidates assume they have to pay for every security cost out of pocket. That depends on where you live, and the rules are changing quickly.
Campaign funds for security.
A growing number of states let candidates spend campaign money on security, often covering family members and staff too, and more states are considering it. Vote Mama Foundation tracks which states allow it and has studied how candidates use campaign funds for security. NCSL keeps a state by state tracker with the text of each law and pending bill. Where there’s no specific law, your state’s campaign finance agency may still have guidance, so ask before you assume.
Keeping your home address out of public records.
Most states don’t exempt lawmakers’ home addresses from public records, though California and Florida are among those that have added protections for officials. NCSL’s overview explains the tradeoffs and the range of state approaches.
Address confidentiality programs.
Most states run a Safe at Home or address confidentiality program through the secretary of state or attorney general. Eligibility is often limited to survivors of domestic violence, stalking, and similar crimes, so check your own state’s rules. The National Association of Secretaries of State keeps a state-by-state list.
Plan for public meetings and campaign events
A lot of the harassment local officials face happens at public meetings, so a little preparation there goes a long way.
Make a personal safety plan.
The National Democratic Institute’s think10 tool, built for politically active women, combines a confidential self-assessment with a country risk score to produce a safety plan you can keep. It was designed for use around the world, so a few parts won’t apply in the US.
Use a toolkit built for this election season.
The Bridging Divides Initiative’s Countering Threats to Local Officials During the 2026 Election Season pulls together the latest data and practical resources for officials and their communities. Its quick guide to de-escalation around contentious meetings is worth reading before your first hearing.
Find a trainer near you.
BDI’s Community Safety and De-Escalation Directory lists more than 150 trainers and practitioners across the country, and you can filter it by focus areas such as digital security.
Learn how to respond to online harassment.
Right To Be offers free public trainings, including sessions on digital safety and what to do when you experience online abuse.
If something happens
You don’t need to decide on the spot whether something is serious enough to report. First, save everything: screenshots, links, usernames, dates, and times. Then use the steps below.
If you’re in immediate danger, call 911.
If your personal information has been posted.
PEN America’s What To Do If You’ve Been Doxed walks through next steps, including filing a report to create a record and warning police that you could be swatted if your home address is circulating online.
If intimate images or deepfakes are shared.
Under the federal TAKE IT DOWN Act, platforms must remove nonconsensual intimate images, including AI generated deepfakes, within 48 hours of a valid request, and the Federal Trade Commission began enforcing that requirement in May 2026. StopNCII.org lets adults create a digital fingerprint of an image so participating companies can find and remove it without the image itself being shared, and the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative offers additional support.
If you’re being harassed or threatened online.
Pirth.org, a nonpartisan nonprofit founded by a survivor of online violence, lets you report what’s happening through a secure form. You get a personal action plan with resources like digital safety tools, legal aid, and mental health support, and you can ask Pirth.org to escalate threats to the platform where they appeared. It works with more than 40 platforms, including all the major social media companies.
Find your people
Nobody should have to face threats and harassment alone.
If you’re serving in a state legislature.
The National Women’s Defense League tracks sexual harassment in statehouses, publishes research on it, and works with lawmakers on stronger policies, including a bipartisan package of bills in Pennsylvania. Support for survivors is at the center of its work.
Before you run.
New York City Council Member Crystal Hudson talks candidly about the privacy she gave up to serve. Our earlier piece, What we do with fear, includes a reading list and interviews with women in office telling their own stories.
Start with one step
You don’t have to do all of this before you decide to run. Pick one thing, like searching your own name or talking with your family about what serving would ask of all of you, and start there.
Fear for your safety is normal, and it’s warranted. But with a plan and people in your corner, it doesn’t have to make the decision for you.
This list will keep growing. If you know a resource that belongs here, tell us at [email protected].