Planning ahead: How to stay safe

If you are being abused, making a safety plan now may help you when you have to act quickly in the future. The following ideas are ways that other women have planned for their safety. Some of these ideas may work for you. You may come up with additional ideas for yourself. You know your own situation better than anyone else, so plan what will work best for you.

• Hide money or put it somewhere safe so you can leave quickly.
• Make copies of birth certificates, immunization records, Social Security numbers, and other important documents to keep in safe locations away from home such as at work, the homes of trusted family members or friends, or hidden in convenient locations.
• Hide a spare car key or bus or subway pass that you can grab quickly.
• Keep a list of hotline numbers, or memorize the 1-800-799-SAFE National Domestic Violence Hotline number.
• Develop a code with friends, family, or neighbors to let them know when you need help in an emergency. If you have children, teach them a signal (like a code word) that means they should call the police or go for help. You may want to have a special code for neighbors (like putting on a particular light or opening a certain window) that means you want them to call the police.
• Plan your exit. Know which doors, windows, stairwells, elevators, or fire escapes you can use if you have to leave quickly. Practice using them so that they feel familiar to you.
• Know how to reach the police and your local women’s shelter.
• Every day, think about where you can go immediately if you have to leave. Is a neighbor home today? A relative? A friend?
• Remove weapons from your home if you can.
• Something to think about: When you cannot get away and your partner becomes violent, which room is the safest for you to get to? Is there a room that has a phone and a lock on the door? Can you stay out of rooms with easy weapons, such as the kitchen?
• Try not to leave without your children. But if you have to leave your children with the abuser, call the police immediately after you escape.

Adapted from Chang JC. Domestic violence. In: Bieber EJ, et al, editors. Clinical Gynecology. Philadelphia, PA; Elsevier, Inc; 2006:79–89.

This information is provided by your physician and the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine. It is not designed to replace a physician’s medical assessment and judgment.

This page may be reproduced noncommercially to share with patients. Any other reproduction is subject to Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine approval. Bulk color reprints available by calling 216-444-2661.

For patient information on hundreds of health topics, see the Center for Consumer Health Information web site, www.clevelandclinic.org/health

If you are being abused, making a safety plan now may help you when you have to act quickly in the future. The following ideas are ways that other women have planned for their safety. Some of these ideas may work for you. You may come up with additional ideas for yourself. You know your own situation better than anyone else, so plan what will work best for you.

• Hide money or put it somewhere safe so you can leave quickly.
• Make copies of birth certificates, immunization records, Social Security numbers, and other important documents to keep in safe locations away from home such as at work, the homes of trusted family members or friends, or hidden in convenient locations.
• Hide a spare car key or bus or subway pass that you can grab quickly.
• Keep a list of hotline numbers, or memorize the 1-800-799-SAFE National Domestic Violence Hotline number.
• Develop a code with friends, family, or neighbors to let them know when you need help in an emergency. If you have children, teach them a signal (like a code word) that means they should call the police or go for help. You may want to have a special code for neighbors (like putting on a particular light or opening a certain window) that means you want them to call the police.
• Plan your exit. Know which doors, windows, stairwells, elevators, or fire escapes you can use if you have to leave quickly. Practice using them so that they feel familiar to you.
• Know how to reach the police and your local women’s shelter.
• Every day, think about where you can go immediately if you have to leave. Is a neighbor home today? A relative? A friend?
• Remove weapons from your home if you can.
• Something to think about: When you cannot get away and your partner becomes violent, which room is the safest for you to get to? Is there a room that has a phone and a lock on the door? Can you stay out of rooms with easy weapons, such as the kitchen?
• Try not to leave without your children. But if you have to leave your children with the abuser, call the police immediately after you escape.

Adapted from Chang JC. Domestic violence. In: Bieber EJ, et al, editors. Clinical Gynecology. Philadelphia, PA; Elsevier, Inc; 2006:79–89.

This information is provided by your physician and the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine. It is not designed to replace a physician’s medical assessment and judgment.

This page may be reproduced noncommercially to share with patients. Any other reproduction is subject to Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine approval. Bulk color reprints available by calling 216-444-2661.

For patient information on hundreds of health topics, see the Center for Consumer Health Information web site, www.clevelandclinic.org/health

If you are being abused, making a safety plan now may help you when you have to act quickly in the future. The following ideas are ways that other women have planned for their safety. Some of these ideas may work for you. You may come up with additional ideas for yourself. You know your own situation better than anyone else, so plan what will work best for you.

• Hide money or put it somewhere safe so you can leave quickly.
• Make copies of birth certificates, immunization records, Social Security numbers, and other important documents to keep in safe locations away from home such as at work, the homes of trusted family members or friends, or hidden in convenient locations.
• Hide a spare car key or bus or subway pass that you can grab quickly.
• Keep a list of hotline numbers, or memorize the 1-800-799-SAFE National Domestic Violence Hotline number.
• Develop a code with friends, family, or neighbors to let them know when you need help in an emergency. If you have children, teach them a signal (like a code word) that means they should call the police or go for help. You may want to have a special code for neighbors (like putting on a particular light or opening a certain window) that means you want them to call the police.
• Plan your exit. Know which doors, windows, stairwells, elevators, or fire escapes you can use if you have to leave quickly. Practice using them so that they feel familiar to you.
• Know how to reach the police and your local women’s shelter.
• Every day, think about where you can go immediately if you have to leave. Is a neighbor home today? A relative? A friend?
• Remove weapons from your home if you can.
• Something to think about: When you cannot get away and your partner becomes violent, which room is the safest for you to get to? Is there a room that has a phone and a lock on the door? Can you stay out of rooms with easy weapons, such as the kitchen?
• Try not to leave without your children. But if you have to leave your children with the abuser, call the police immediately after you escape.

Adapted from Chang JC. Domestic violence. In: Bieber EJ, et al, editors. Clinical Gynecology. Philadelphia, PA; Elsevier, Inc; 2006:79–89.

This information is provided by your physician and the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine. It is not designed to replace a physician’s medical assessment and judgment.

This page may be reproduced noncommercially to share with patients. Any other reproduction is subject to Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine approval. Bulk color reprints available by calling 216-444-2661.

For patient information on hundreds of health topics, see the Center for Consumer Health Information web site, www.clevelandclinic.org/health