​Personal Safety Plan

Domestic Violence - A Personal Safety Plan

During an explosive incident

• If there is an argument, try to be in a place that has an exit and not in a bathroom, kitchen, or room that may contain weapons.
• Practice getting out of your home safely. Identify which door, window, elevator, or stairwell to use.
• Pack a bag and have it ready at a friend’s or relative’s house.
• Identify one or more neighbors you can tell about the violence and ask them to call the police if they hear a disturbance coming from your home.
• Devise a code word to use with your children, family, friends and neighbors when you need the police.
• Decide and plan where you will go if you ever have to leave home.
• Use your instincts and judgment. In a dangerous situation, placate the abuser if possible, to keep him or her calm.
  
  Remember: You Have The Right To Be Safe. You Do Not Deserve to be Hit or Threatened

When preparing to leave

• Open a checking or savings account in your own name.
• Leave money, an extra set of keys, copies of important documents, extra clothes and medicines in a safe place or with someone you trust.
• Get your own post office box.
• Find a safe place where you and your children can go.
• Identify a person who may be able to assist you financially.
• If you have pets, make arrangements for them to be cared for in a safe place.
  Remember: Leaving Your Batterer is the Most Dangerous Time

In your own residence

• If you stay in your home, lock your windows and change locks on your doors.
• Develop a safety plan with your children for when you are not with them.
• Inform your child’s school, day care, etc., about who has permission to pick up your child.
• Inform your neighbors and the landlord that your partner no longer lives with you, and that they should call the police if they see him/her near your home.
• Never call the abuser from your home; he/she may find out where you live. Request an unlisted/ unpublished number from the telephone company.
• Stay off Facebook and be very careful using any social media.
  

​What you need to take