PERSONAL SAFETY PLAN (click on any of the headings below)
You can also downlaod the safety plan brochure in pdf by (clicking here)

Safety During an Explosive Incident

A. If an incident seems unavoidable, try to have it in a room or area where you have access to an exit. Try to stay away from the bathroom, kitchen, or anywhere else where weapons might be available.
B. Practice how to get of your home safely. Identify which doors, windows, elevator, or stairwell would be best.
C. Identify one or more neighbors you can tell about the violence and ask that they call the police if they hear a disturbance from your home.
D. Devise a codeword to use with your children, family, friends, and neighbors when you need the police or their help.
E. Decide and plan for where you will go if you have to leave home (even if you don’t think you’ll need to).
F. Use your own instincts and judgment. If the situation is very dangerous, consider giving your abusive partner what he/she wants to calm him/her down. You have the right to protect yourself until you are out of danger.
G. Always remember: YOU DON’T DESERVE TO BE HIT OR THREATENED!!

Safety when preparing to leave

A. Open a savings account and/or credit card in your own name to start to establish or increase your independence. Think of other ways in which you can increase your independence.
B. Get your own post office box. You can privately receive checks and letters to increase your independence.
C. Leave money, an extra set of keys, tokens or parking cards, copies of important documents, extra medicines, and clothes with someone you trust so you can leave quickly.
D. Determine who would be able to let you leave money or stay with them.
E. Keep a domestic violence hotline number close at hand and keep some change or a calling card on you at all times for emergency phone calls.
F. REMEMBER: LEAVING YOUR ABUSIVE PARTNER IS THE MOST DANGEROUS TIME. Review your safety plan as often as possible in order to plan the safest way to leave your abusive partner.

Safety in your own home

A. Change the locks on your doors as soon as possible. Buy additional locks and safety devices to secure your windows.

B. Discuss a safety plan for your children for when you are not with them.

C. Inform your children’s school, day care, etc. about who has permission to pick up your children.

D. Inform neighbors and landlord that your partner no longer lives with you and that they should call the police if they see him/her near your home.

Safety with a protection order

A. Keep your protection order on you at all times.  Give a copy to a trusted neighbor, friend, or family member.

B. Call the police if your partner breaks the protection order.

C. Think of alternative ways to keep safe if the police do not respond right away.

D. Inform family, friends, neighbors, and your physician or health care provider that you have a protection order in effect.

Safety on the job and in public

A. Decide who at work you will inform of your situation. This could include office or building security. Provide a picture of your abusive partner if possible.

B. Have your phone extension changed and/or have your phone calls screened at work.

C. Have a safety plan for when you leave work. Have someone escort you to your car, bus, or train, and wait with you until you are safely on your way. Use a variety of routes to go to and from your home if possible. Think about what you would do if something happened while going home (i.e. in your car, on the bus, etc.).

Safety when using technology

A.  Use a safe computer that your abusive partner does not have access to.

B.  Create a new email account that your partner does not know about.

C.  Change your passwords and pin numbers regularly. 

Your safety and sexual health

A.  If safe, get tested for HIV and STIs regularly and encourage your partner to do so also.

B.  Be familiar with your own and your partner’s body.  Cuts, sores, and bleeding gums increase the risk of spreading HIV.

C.  Get regular check ups. 

Your safety and emotional health

A. If you are thinking of returning to a potentially abusive situation, create a new safety plan with someone you trust.

B. If you have to communicate with your partner, determine the safest way to do so.

C. Have positive thoughts about yourself and be assertive with others about your needs. Read books, articles, and poems to help you feel stronger.

D. Decide who you can call and talk freely and openly to so you can get the support you need.
E. Consider individual or group counseling to gain support from others and learn more about yourself and your relationships.

Things you will need to take with you when you leave

Never let these items come between you and your safety.  Prioritize!
IDENTIFICATION
_____Driver’s license
_____Children’s birth certificates
_____Your birth certificate
_____Social security card
_____Welfare identification
FINANCIAL
_____Money and/or credit and ATM cards
_____Bank statements
_____Checkbooks
_____ACCESS card
LEGAL PAPERS
_____YOUR PROTECTION FROM ABUSE ORDER
_____Lease, rental agreement, house deed
_____Car registration & insurance papers
_____Health and life insurance papers
_____Medical records for you and your children
_____School records
_____Work permits/Green card/VISA
_____Passport
_____Divorce papers
_____Custody papers
OTHER
_____House and car keys
_____Medications
_____Small, sellable objects/Jewelry
_____Address book/Phone card
_____Change of clothes for you & kids/toiletries
_____Internet passwords, acct. #s, usernames

Teen Dating Violence and Technology

Increasingly, teens are reporting abuse through popular technologies such as
cell phones, instant messaging, and emails.
After our 45 minute presentation, your teens will know more about…
• prevention and safety precautions for high-tech abuse and stalking
• safety with cell phones, texts, GPS
• securing internet, email, computer, and passwords
Download the Training flyer by (clicking here)

 

Hotline 1.866.SAFE.014 (723-3014)

	Print this page