Safety Planning

Why Have a Plan?

If you are experiencing domestic abuse, it is important that you have a personal safety plan. This plan will allow you to think how you can improve your safety if and when further violence or abuse occurs.

This plan will not guarantee your safety, but will help improve it.

If you or your family are in immediate danger, call the police on 999.

Your personal safety plan may include some of the following:

" Tell someone you can trust what is happening.

" A password with either a friend, neighbour or family member that you can use to explain    there is an emergency and you need help quickly.

" How you will leave the home safely in an emergency

" A safe place to go to should you need to leave quickly.

" A prepared bag of clothes, medication and other essentials for yourself and children. You may need important documents such as driving licence, birth certificates, passports, financial/insurance information, bank statements, benefit books or letters, etc. Hide the bag where you can get to it in a hurry, or leave the bag with family or a friend.

" Keep your address book and diary (containing any important and emergency telephone numbers, your GPs, local police domestic abuse unit etc) with you.

" If you have a car, make an extra set of keys and hide them where you can get to them if you need to.

" Teach your children to call 999 in an emergency and what they would need to say (for example, their full name, address and telephone number).

" Find out where the nearest phone is or if you have a mobile phone, try to keep it and the charger with you.

" Try to keep a small amount of money and your credit and/or debit cards on you at all times  including change for the phone.

" If you think your partner is about to attack you, try to get to a safer place, such as rooms that have a way out and access to a telephone. Try to avoid rooms that have potential weapons in them, such as the kitchen or garage, and rooms like the bathroom where it is easier for them to trap you.

" Keep any abusive letters, emails and text messages as evidence of abuse.

" If your partner injures you go to a doctor or hospital for treatment so there is a record of the abuse.