Safety Plan for Victims | sarahsfriends

Safety Plan for Victims of Domestic Violence

Provided by the Ohio Domestic Violence Network

Identify a variety of ways to get out of your home safely and practice using your escape route.
Pack a bag with medications, important documents, money, keys, etc. and hide it. Consider changing the hiding spot if your abuser searches the home.
Arrange a signal wih neighbors to let them know when you need help (turning on a porch light during the day, pulling down a particular window shade).
Devise a code word to use with your children, grandchildren, friends, or others to indicate that you need the police.
Decide and plan for where you will go if you have to leave (even if you don't think you will need to).
If you have a cell phone, keep it at hand and charged.

Try to go to a room or area with access to an exit. Avoid rooms with no outside doors and those containing potential weapons (kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, garage).
Try to stay in a room with a phone to call 911, a friend, or neighbor.
Inform law enforcement if weapons are in the home.
Visualize your escape route and be prepared to use it if a safe opportunity arises.
Use your code word or special signal to tell your chidren or neighbors to call 911.
Use your instinct and judgment to safely assess what to do next.

Open a savings account in your own name at a different bank. Consider direct deposit of your paycheck or benefit check. Begin to increase your independence.
Leave money, an extra set of keys, copies of important documents and extra clothes with someone you trust.
Have your abuser's social security number and license plate number with you to provide to police.
Bring medications, prescriptions, hearing aids, glasses, etc.
Determine who would let you stay with them or lend you money.
Keep the domestic violence program number with you and have some change at all times for emergency phone calls.
If you are 60 years or older, contact Adult Protective Services to learn about eligibility for public and private benefits and services.
Review your safety plan regularly to plan the safest way to leave.

Change the locks on your doors as soon as possible. Buy additional locks and safety devices to secure your windows. Consider increasing your outside lighting.
If you have children or other dependents living with you, discuss a safety plan for when you are not with them. Inform their school, day care, etc. about who has permission to pick them up.
Inform neighbors and your landlord that your abuser no longer lives with you, and they should call the police if they see your abuser near your home.

Keep your protection order with you at all times. If it is lost or destroyed, you can get another copy from the County Clerk of Courts.
Call the police if your abuser violates the protection order.
If your protection order is out of state, register it with your local police and/or clerk of courts.
Give copies to anyone with whom your children may stay (schools, day care, etc.).

Decide who to inform of your situation (school, office, or building security), and provide a picture of your abuser. Consider having your phone calls screened.
Devise a safety plan for when you are out in public. Have someone escort you to your car, bus, or taxi. Use a variety of routes to go home and consider what you would do if something happened on your way home.

If you are considering returning to a potentially abusive situation, discuss an alternative plan with someone you trust.
If you have to communicate with your abuser, do so in the safest way-by phone, mail, in the company of another person, etc.
Decide who you can talk to freely and who can provide the support you need. Consider calling a domestic violence hotline or attending a support group.

Driver's license or other form of ID
Your birth certificate and those of family members
Money, bank books, checkbooks, credit cards, ATM cards, mortgage payment book
Social Security card, work permit, green card, passport, insurance paper, medical records
Your abuser's social security number and license plate number
Divorce and custody papers
Copies of your protection order
Lease, rental agreement, house deed
Keys to house, car, office
Medications, glasses, hearing aids etc. for you and your children or other dependents
Personal items like address book, pictures, etc.

call Ohio Domestic Violence Network's 24 hour information line toll free at 1-800-934-9840 or call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)