Safety Planning
Your safety is the most important thing.
If you are living in an abusive relationship, you might need to think about…
- Have a list of important numbers handy e.g. police, Women’s Aid, Helpline, friends.
- Trusted friends or neighbours you could tell about the abuse. Ask them to contact the police if they hear angry voices or violent noises coming from your home.
- If you have children teach them to dial 999. Make up a code word that you will use if you need help.
- How you can get out of your house safely.
- Are there any weapons in the house? How could you get them out of the house.
- Where you could go? Even if you don’t plan to leave, consider ways of getting out of the house if you needed to.
- Pack an emergency bag of items that you need every day and hide it where it is easy to get.
- Review your safety plan often.
If you are considering leaving your abuser, think about…
- Places you could go if you leave your home.
- Who could help you if you left?
- People who could keep a bag for you.
- Make plans for your pets
- Keeping change for phone calls or keeping credit on your mobile phone.
- Get a spare set of car and house keys.
- Opening a bank account in your name.
- Gather together important documents, bank books, benefit cards, legal orders, record of medications.
- How you might leave? Times and opportunities for leaving the house safely.
- How you could take your children with you safely
- Putting together a bag of things that you need every day e.g. clothes, school uniforms and children’s favourite possessions.
Abusers try to control their victim’s lives. When they experience a loss of control, i.e. when victims try to leave them, the abuse gets worse. Women are at very high risk when they try to leave.