Safety Planning

Below are some suggestions you may want to consider in order to make yourself as safe as possible:

• Do you have enough time to talk to someone on the Helpline?
• How safe would you feel, talking to a Helpline worker?
• Does your partner know where you are living?
• Do you think he will attempt to find you?
• Can he find out your whereabouts from someone e.g. relative, friend, school?
• Are there places you have to go that he might know about e.g. DSS, schools? Is there a way you can change your routine?
• Do you have a neighbour who would call the police in an emergency? Is there a way you can let the neighbour know you need help? Can you arrange code words with family and friends to let them know on the telephone that you are not safe?
• Are there any safety precautions that you feel might help in your home e.g. a room that you can lock, access to keys to front or back door, telephones?
• Do you have a spare set of keys which you can keep at someone else’s house – to provide access to the house in an emergency?
• Can you keep copies of important documents and/or money somewhere safe, either with a friend or on her person?
• Are you aware that an abuser could trace you by dialling 1471, pressing last number recall or itemised phone bills?
• Do you have emergency contact numbers?

If you are thinking of leaving, you may want to think about other parts of the city/ country where you may be at risk e.g. his place of work, where his family or friends live. The following items may be useful for you to take with you if you decide you want to leave:

• clothes for yourself and the children
• towels and toiletries
• a favourite toy
• benefit books, bank books and other forms of identification
• National Insurance number
• Birth certificates
• passport/ visas and related documentation
• address book/ useful telephone numbers
• photographs
• set of keys to the house
• money
• children’s medical records