Step 1: Safety during a violent incident. Women cannot always avoid violent incidents. In order to increase safety, battered women may use a variety of strategies.

I can use some or all of the following strategies:

A. If I decide to leave, I will __________________________________________. (Practice how to leave safely. What doors, windows, elevators, stairwells, or fire escapes would you use?)

B. I can keep my purse and car keys ready and put them (where)____________________________________ in order to leave quickly.

C. I can tell ______________________________ about the violence and request they call the police if they hear suspicious noises coming from my house.

I can also tell __________________________.

D. I can teach my children how to use the telephone to contact the police and the fire department.

E. I will use ________________________ as my code word with my children or my friends so they can call for help.

F. If I have to leave my home, I will go _________________________________. (Decide this even if you don't think there will be a next time.)

If I cannot go there, then I can go to _________________________________ or ________________________ or ______________________________.

G. I can also teach some of these strategies to some/all of my children.

H. When I expect we are going to have an argument, I will try to move to a space that is lowest risk, such as ______________________________________. (Try to avoid arguments in the bathroom, garage, kitchen, near weapons,
or in rooms without access to an outside door.)

I. I will use my judgment and intuition. If the situation is very serious, I can give my partner what he/she wants to calm him/her down. I have to protect myself until I/we are out of danger.

Step 2: Safety when preparing to leave. Battered women frequently leave the residence they share with the battering partner. Leaving must be done with a careful plan in order to increase safety. Batterers often strike back when they believe that a battered woman is leaving a relationship.

I can use some or all of the following safety strategies:

A. I will leave money and an extra set of keys with ________________________ so I can leave quickly.

B. I will keep copies of important documents or keys at _____________________.

C. I will open a savings account by _____________________________________, to increase my independence.

D. Other things I can do to increase my independence include:
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

E. The domestic violence program's hotline number is ______________________. I can seek shelter by calling this hotline.

F. I can keep change for phone calls on me at all times. I understand that is I use my telephone credit card, the following month the telephone bill will tell my batterer those numbers I called after I left. To keep my telephone calls confidential, I must either use coins or I might get a friend to permit me to use their telephone credit card for a limited time when I first leave.

G. I will check with ____________________ and ___________________ to see who would be able to let me stay with them or lend me some money.

H. I can leave extra clothes with _______________________________________.

I. I will sit down and review my safety plan every ___________________ in order to plan the safest way to leave the residence.
__________________________ (domestic abuse advocate or friend) has agreed to help me review this plan.

J. I will rehearse my escape plan and, as appropriate, practice it with my children.

Step 3: Safety in my own residence. There are many things a woman can do to increase her safety in her own residence. It may be impossible to do everything at once, but safety measures can be added step by step.

Safety measures I can use include:

A. I can change the locks on my doors and windows as soon as possible.

B. I can replace wooden doors with steel/metal doors.

C. I can install security systems including additional locks, window bars, poles to wedge against doors, and electronic system, etc.

D. I can purchase rope ladders to be used for escape from second floor windows.

E. I can install smoke detectors and purchase fire extinguishers for each floor in my house/apartment.

F. I can install an outside lighting system that lights up when a person is coming close to my house.

G. I will teach my children how to use the telephone to make a collect call to me and to ____________________________ (friend/other) in the event that my partner takes the children.

H. I will tell the people who take care of my children which people have permission to pick up my children and that my partner is not permitted to do so. The people I will inform about pick-up permission include:
___________________________________________ (school)
___________________________________________ (day care staff)
___________________________________________ (babysitter)
___________________________________________ (teacher)
___________________________________________ and
___________________________________________ (others).

I. I can inform _____________________________________ (neighbor) and _____________________________________ (friend) that my partner no longer resides with me and they should call the police if he/she is observed near my residence.

Step 4: Safety with a protection order. Many batterers obey protection orders, but one can never be sure which violent partner will obey and which will violate protection orders. I recognize that I may need to ask the police and the courts to enforce my protection order.

The following are some steps I can take to help the enforcement of my protection order:

A. I will keep my protection order __________________________ (location). (Always keep it on or near your person. If you change purses, that's the first thing that should go in.)

B. I will give my protection order to police departments in the community where I work, in those communities where I usually visit family or friends, and in the community where I live.

C. There should be a county registry of protection orders that all police departments can call to confirm a protection order. I can check to make sure that my order is on the registry. The telephone number for the county registry of protection orders is: __________________________.

D. For further safety, if I often visit other counties in my state, I might file my protection order in those counties. I will register my protection order in the following counties: _______________________, _____________________________, and ________________________.

E. I can call the local domestic violence program if I am not sure about B, C, or D above or if I have some problem with my protection order.

F. I will inform my employer, my closest friend, and ________________ and _____________________ that I have a protection order in effect.

G. If my partner destroys my protection order, I can get another copy from the courthouse by going to the Office of the Prothonotary located at ___________________________________________.

H. If my partner violates the protection order, I can call the police and report a violation, contact my attorney, call my advocate, and/or advise the court of the violation.

I. If the police do not help, I can contact my advocate or attorney and will file a complaint with the chief of the police department.

J. I can also file a private criminal complaint with the district justice in the jurisdiction where the violation occurred or with the district attorney. I can charge my battering partner with a violation of the protection order and all the crimes that he commits in violating the order. I can call the domestic abuse advocate to help me deal with this.

Step 5: Safety on the job and in public. Each battered woman must decide if and when she will tell others that her partner has battered her and that she may be at continued risk. Friends, family, and co-workers can help to protect women. Each woman should consider carefully which people to invite to help secure her safety.

I might do any or all of the following:

A. I can inform my boss, the security supervisor, and _______________________ at work of my situation.

B. I can ask _____________________________ to help screen my telephone calls at work.

C. When leaving work, I can

_______________________________________________________________________________________.

D. When driving home, if problems occur I can _______________________________________________________________________________________.

E. If I use public transit, I can _______________________________________________________________________________________.

F. I can use different grocery stores and shopping malls to conduct my business and shop at hours that are different than those when residing with my battering partner.

G. I can use a different bank and take care of my banking at hours different from those I used when residing with my battering partner.

H. I can also ________________________________________________________.

Step 6: Safety and drug or alcohol use. Most people in this culture use alcohol. Many use mind-altering drugs. Much of this use is legal and some is not. The legal outcomes of using illegal drugs can be very hard on a battered woman, may hurt her relationship with her
children, and put her at a disadvantage in other legal matters with her battering partner. Therefore, women should carefully consider the potential cost of the use of illegal drugs. But beyond this, the use of alcohol or other drugs can reduce a woman's awareness and ability to
act quickly to protect herself from her battering partner. Furthermore, the use of alcohol or other drugs by the batterer may give him/her an excuse to use violence. Therefore, in the context of drug or alcohol use, a woman needs to make specific safety plans.

If drug or alcohol use has occurred in my relationship with the battering partner, I can enhance my safety by some or all of the following:

A. If I am going to use, I can do so in a safe place and with people who understand the risk of violence and are committed to my safety.

B. I can also _______________________________________________________.

C. If my partner is using, I can _________________________________________.

D. I might also ______________________________________________________.

E. To safeguard my children, I might ____________________________________ and _________________________________________________________.

Step 7: Safety and my emotional health. The experience of being battered and verbally degraded by partners is usually exhausting and emotionally draining. The process of building a new life for myself takes much courage and incredible energy.

To conserve my emotional energy and resources and to avoid hard emotional times, I can do some or all of the following:

A. If I feel down and ready to return to a potentially abuse situation, I can
____________________________________________________________.

B. When I have to communicate with my partner in person or by telephone, I can
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________.

C. I can try to use "I can..." statements with myself and to be assertive with others.

D. I can tell myself "_________________________________________________" whenever I feel others are trying to control or abuse me.

E. I can read _______________________________ to help me feel stronger.

F. I can call _________________________, _________________________, and
________________________ as other resources to be of support to me.

G. Other things I can do to help me feel stronger are _______________________, ______________________________, and __________________________.

H. I can attend workshops and support groups at the domestic violence program or ____________________________, ___________________________, or ____________________________ to gain support and strengthen my relationships with other people.

Step 8: Items to take when leaving. When women leave partners, it is important to take certain items with them. Beyond this, women sometimes give an extra copy of papers and an extra set of clothing to a friend just in case they have to leave quickly.

Items with asterisks on the following list are the most important to take. If there is time, the other items might be taken, or stored outside the home.

These items might best be placed in one location, so that if I/we have to leave in a hurry, I can grab them quickly.

When I leave, I should take:

* Identification for myself
* Children's birth certificates
* My birth certificate
* Social Security cards
* School and vaccination records
* Money
* Checkbook, ATM card
* Credit cards
* Keys - house/car/office
* Driver's license and registration
* Medications
Welfare identification
Work permits
Green card
Passport(s)
Divorce papers
Medical records - for all family members
Lease/rental agreement, house deed, mortgage payment book
Bank books
Insurance papers
Small saleable objects
Address book
Pictures
Jewelry
Children's favorite toys and/or blankets
Items of special sentimental value

Telephone numbers I need to know:

Police department - home: ____________________________
Police department - school: ___________________________
Police department - work: ____________________________
Battered women's program: ___________________________
County registry of protection orders: _____________________
Work number: ______________________________________
Supervisor's home number: ___________________________
Other: _____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________

Developed by Barbara Hart and Jane Stuehling, PCADV, 524 McKnight Street, Reading, PA 19601
PCADV, 1992

Adopted from "Personalized Safety Plan", Office of the City Attorney, City of San Diego, CA
April, 1990