Safety Planning

Safety Plan for Victims of Domestic Violence

This safety plan is for domestic violence victims of any age who may be abused by, or afraid of their spouse or partner, boyfriend or girlfriend, adult child or their family member. Safety planning helps develop tools in advance of potentially dangerous situations. Choose only the suggestions listed here that make sense for your set of circumstances.

Go to an area that has an exit.

Not a bathroom (near hard surfaces), kitchen (knives), or near weapons.

Stay in a room with a phone.

Call 911, a friend or a neighbor, if possible. Inform them if there are weapons in the home.

Know your escape route.

Practice how to get out of your home safely. Visualize your escape route.

Have a packed bag ready.

Keep it hidden in a handy place to leave quickly, or leave a bag elsewhere if your abuser searches your home.

Devise a code word or signal.

Tell your children, grandchildren or neighbors so you can communicate them that you need the police.

Know where you are going.

Plan where you will go if you have to leave home, even if you don’t think you’ll need to.

Trust your judgement.

Consider anything that you feel will keep you safe and give you time to figure out what to do next. Sometimes it is best to flee, sometimes to placate the abuser-anything works to protect yourself and the children.

If you or someone you know is in need of domestic violence, sexual assault or human trafficking services, please call our 24-hour Crisis Hotline: 800-286-4184 or 609-646-6767 or text: 609-569-5437